


Romance in Black

by kimurasato



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: M/M, Violence, cross dressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-28
Updated: 2014-03-28
Packaged: 2018-01-17 07:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1378558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimurasato/pseuds/kimurasato
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a new man enters Casper High School, Danny dresses as a woman in an attempt to escape him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written back between 2004-2005 and is set during their senior year at Casper High.
> 
> The idea came from a prompt someone sent me: A new guy attends Casper High and takes an interest in Danny. To escape this boy’s advances, Sam helps Danny by making him cross dress. However, Dash takes an interest in the female version of Danny.

Danny stared at the board the teacher was writing examples of math problems on with little interest. The teacher was so boring that he was about to join the rest of the class in sleeping until the bell rang. But a knock on the doorframe drew his mind back from the realm of dreams, and his head, along with all the other students’ heads, turned to the doorway.

In walked a tall man, about the same height as Dash but not as muscular. His black hair was spiky though the roots of brown hair could be seen amidst the black. His dark, onyx eyes scanned the room as he walked toward the math teacher, Mr. Henderson. When his gaze landed on Danny, a smirk crossed his face, sending shivers down the half ghost’s spine. Then he turned to the teacher and handed him a slip of paper. The teacher made a “hmm” sound as he looked it over before handing it back to the man.

“Class, we have a new student joining us from New York,” Mr. Henderson announced. “His name is Devon Mancer. Devon, there’s an open seat behind Daniel Fenton.” He waved in the direction of the named man before returning to his lesson plan. Danny glanced around the classroom and noticed that the desk behind him really was the only one open. A surge of panic ran through him.

Devon strolled down the aisle of desks, walking toward Danny and catching a few looks from the women in the classroom. He took his seat behind the half ghost, and Danny felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Something about this new man made Danny nervous, and he didn’t like that feeling. It was like the man set off his ghost sense, except he didn't.

“Fenton!” Mr. Henderson shouted, snapping his student back to reality. “Please give the answer to this problem.”

Danny stared at the problem that the teacher pointed to, but he didn’t understand the problem at all. His brow knitted in concentration. He heard a whisper behind him, but he ignored it. “Um, four,” he replied uncertainly. Giggles followed his answer as the teacher sighed in disappointment.

“Mancer, would you like to give it a try?” Mr. Henderson asked.

“The answer is six hundred ninety,” Devon answered with a smug smirk on his face.

“Correct!” Mr. Henderson looked proud to have a student who actually knew the answer for once. “Perhaps you could learn something from our new student, Fenton.” Then he started writing the next problem on the board.

Danny sank in his seat with a small blush on his face, feeling completely embarrassed. His guess wasn't even close to the real answer. Then again, he didn’t even have a clue how to do the problem the teacher wanted him to solve. Math was still one his weaker subjects.

When the bell rang, Danny felt greatly relieved to be able to escape the doom that was known as math. He gathered his books and headed for the door behind the rest of his classmates. But a foot he didn't see tripped him, sending him to the floor and his books scattered when he lost his grip on them. Laughter filled his ears, and his blush returned with a vengeance, now coloring all the way to the tips of his ears.

Mr. Henderson gave a snort at the fallen student before he followed the rest of the students out of the classroom and leaving Danny alone on the floor. As he reached to pick up his books, Danny heard the creak of a closing door. When he lifted his head, he found Devon standing before the closed door. Then he heard a click as the other man locked it.

“What – What are you doing?” Danny stuttered, letting the books fall from his hand as he stumbled away.

Devon stalked forward, his smirk taking on a more malicious look. Danny now felt even more scared than when Dash promised to break his neck the next time he did something to piss off the jock. He didn’t like that look on the other man’s face. Devon stood between him on the only exit to the classroom, unless Danny wanted to take a little fall out the window. Before Danny could reach a decision on what to do in his current situation, Devon grabbed the man by the arms and slammed him into the wall. Danny’s shoulder hit the pencil sharpener near the chalk board, making him wince in pain.

_Great. Just what I need_ , Danny thought, grinding his teeth at the pain in his shoulder. _Another Dash to beat me into a bloody meat patty_.

“There’s something about you,” Devon whispered, pushing the man harder against the wall as he leaned in closer. At this distance, Danny could see the black rings of eyeliner around the other man’s eyes. A tongue snuck out as he licked his lips, and Danny noticed a flash of silver, realizing Devon had a pierced tongue.

The handle of the door jiggled as someone tried to open the locked door. Devon shot a glare at it with a small growl at whomever decided to interrupt him. He pulled Danny off the wall and shoved the man away. Danny stumbled, falling into the row of desks. The metal legs scraped along the tile flooring, and a thud followed when Danny hit the ground.

Devon smirked as he walked to the door and unlocked it. When he opened the door, the person on the other side backed away in shock. Devon strolled out of the room as if nothing happened, tucking his hands into the pockets of his black leather pants.

Danny climbed to his feet, rubbing his sore head where he had hit it on the desk. A hand dropped onto his hurt shoulder, and he flinched, partly in pain and partly in fear.

“Danny.” Tucker’s voice reached his ears, and Danny’s head shot up to see his friend with a worried expression on his face. “Are you okay?”

“No,” Danny answered as he pulled his hand away from his forehead and found a small splash of red on it. “That new kid is as bad as Dash.”

“You mean that Goth dude that just left?” Tucker pointed to the door.

“Yeah, he slammed my shoulder into the pencil sharpener and then threw me into the desks.” Danny hissed in pain as he tentatively touched the bump forming on his forehead. “Is there like a magnetic force here that draws in assholes like Dash and Devon?”

“And they all seem to love to use you as their punching bag,” Tucker added as he patted his friend on the uninjured shoulder. He felt sorry for the way the jocks treated his friend. He knew what it was like to be the target of the jocks’ bullying, but Danny was still the jocks’ favorite. “Sam’s waiting for us at our lockers.”

Danny stooped to pick up his books, only then becoming aware of the shooting pain in his knee. After gathering his things again, he followed Tucker out of the classroom with a limp. Danny hated that the teachers never even paid attention to the bullying that he had to endure.

“At least tonight, we can have a nice relaxing movie night at Sam’s,” Danny said as they walked through the halls, not noticing the pair of eyes watching them. Danny had been looking forward to that night all week. It was the one night that month he set aside as a “no ghost hunting” night.


	2. Chapter 2

“Danny, I think you should give this guy a chance before passing judgment on him,” Sam said, scanning her notes for class. Danny turned to Tucker and gave his other friend a gaping look.

“Sam, the guy attacked me!” Danny couldn't believe his friend was defending the new bully. “Why should I give this guy a chance?”

“She’s probably just defending him because he’s a fellow Goth,” Tucker whispered to Danny. But Sam heard it and glared at him.

“And he just happens to be in my math class,” Danny said with a tired sigh. “At least I only have to see Dash during lunch.” Which was mostly true. Sometimes the jock caught Danny in the hallways between classes, and Danny watched Dash play football from the top of the bleachers during games. But Danny did his best to keep off Dash's radar the rest of the time.

“Speaking of the blond blockhead,” Sam muttered when she noticed Dash walking down the hallway with his teammates.

“And there’s the Gothic dark lord,” Tucker said, nodding his head toward the other end of the hallway where Devon was coming with a small group of women trailing behind him, though he gave them no notice.

“I’m in hell!” Danny banged his forehead on his locker. He couldn’t escape without running into either Dash or Devon.

“Fenton!” Devon shouted, his voice seeming to echo in Danny’s ears as all other noise filtered out of his hearing. The sense of dread filled Danny, and the hairs on his neck stood on end when the new man’s shadow loomed over him. Devon grabbed the Danny’s shoulder and spun him around before slamming him into the lockers again. “I’m taking a chick out on a date tonight. Give me some money.”

“I don’t have any money,” Danny said quickly. His jaw clenched as he glared at the man. Why did the bullies always think they could take everything from him?

Devon snorted as he shoved a hand into the back pocket of Danny's baggy jeans. The half ghost's mind froze at the fact that some other man had his hand in his pocket. Danny glanced to his friends, but both of them looked too stunned to say or do anything. He choked on a gasp when he felt a hand squeezing his buttocks. Not finding a wallet, Devon tried the other back pocket. He repeated the same action, groping around for a bit before removing his hand with Danny’s black wallet between his fingers. A smirk spread onto his face as he took the few bills from the wallet.

“Thanks for the twenty bucks,” Devon said, tossing the wallet back to Danny. It smacked the man in the forehead before dropping to the ground. Devon waved as he turned to continue walking down the hallway.

“Are you okay, man?” Tucker bent down to pick up his friend’s wallet.

Danny slowly turned to his friends before he snatched the wallet out of Tucker’s hand. “Yeah, give him a chance.” Danny directed a sneer at Sam. “He just groped me!”

“Danny, you really need to grow a backbone,” Sam said, though she was concerned about the groping. She watched Devon walking away from the corner of her eyes. "You always let the bullies walk all over you."

“I didn’t see either of you jump in to help me,” Danny grumbled. He glanced down the hallway to see Devon get stopped by Dash. “There’s something weird about that new guy.”

“You mean other than the fact that he used the excuse of stealing your wallet to grope you?” Tucker asked innocently, holding back a snicker. He knew he shouldn’t find it amusing, but it was funny to see Danny’s reaction.

“Yes, other than that.” Danny glared at his friend. “Every time he comes near me, I get this bad feeling, like there’s something wrong with him, but he doesn’t set off my ghost sense.” A troubled expression crossed his face.

“Maybe he just sets off your gay-dar,” Tucker suggested before bursting into laughter.

“Tucker!” his friends shouted at him, and Sam punched him in the shoulder. Tucker winced as he rubbed the sore spot.

Meanwhile down the hallway, Dash stopped the new man after he saw what happened with Fenton. He looked over the Goth man, his lip curling up in a sneer of disgust at the all black apparel. He never did like the Goth fashion, and now he hated it even more.

“No one touches Fenton without my permission,” Dash warned, glaring at the dark eyed man before him.

“I didn’t know he was taken already.” Devon smirked when Dash’s face grew red with anger.

“You’re new here, so I’ll let you off this time,” Dash growled. “I run this school, and if I tell you to stay away from someone, you better keep your distance. Fenton’s my punching bag.” He grabbed Devon’s hand, ripping the bills from his hand.

“Someone likes to act like a big macho man.” Devon’s grin remained firmly on his face. The people of this school were pretty amusing, especially the ones that reacted so easily to his actions. “Do you practice acting tough in front of a mirror?”

Dash moved to attack Devon, but his team mates saw it coming and held him back. They didn't need Dash getting detention for fighting and being banned from the big game that weekend.

“See you later, Blondie!” Devon waved as he passed the group of jocks and headed down the hallway toward his first period classroom.

“That punk!” Dash growled, the challenge to his authority hurting his pride.

“You can kick his ass later when we’re not on school grounds,” Kwan whispered as he patted his friend’s back in an attempt to calm him. “We need you in the game, so just ignore that punk while we’re at school.”

Dash shrugged off the hand on his shoulder and stormed down the hallway to where Manson was beating Foley over the head with a notebook while Fenton laughed at his friends. When he reached the group, Dash gave Fenton a hard shove into the lockers before continuing on his way like nothing happened. Kwan jogged to catch up with his teammate, overhearing Fenton say something about how he was sick of always being picked on by the jocks.

“Are you jealous that someone’s moving in on your punching bag?” Kwan tried to keep the smile off his face.

“Fenton’s been my punching bag for the past four years,” Dash answered through clenched teeth. “No one gets to abuse him but me.”

“Dash,” Kwan said, placing a hand on his friend’s arm to make him stop, “why does it matter? It’s just Fenton. He’s a loser. Why do you care so much about who picks on him?”

“If Fenton’s going to suffer, it’ll be by my hands.” Dash slapped the other man’s hand off his arm.

Kwan watched his friend storm down the hallway, feeling at a bit of a loss. He never understood Dash’s hatred for the loser. Every time he tried to ask his friend about it, Dash answered with “Fenton’s a loser who deserves to suffer” or he avoided the question altogether. _What could have happened between them to cause Dash to hate Fenton so much?_ Kwan wondered as he headed for his first class. He hadn’t met Dash until their freshmen year at Casper High, and Dash seemed to know about Fenton from before high school. _Maybe Fenton can give me some answers_ , Kwan thought upon entering his history class.


	3. Chapter 3

“You wanted to see me, Mr. Henderson,” Danny said, approaching his math teacher after class.

“Mr. Fenton, your grades have taken a – Pay attention!” Mr. Henderson shouted, slamming a yardstick on his desk when he caught his student glancing over his shoulder at the new student. Danny snapped his head around to face his teacher. “Your grades have been slipping all year. If you don’t get help soon, you’re going to fail and not be able to graduate.” Mr. Henderson raised his hand and gestured to the only other student in the room. “And since I would rather not have you repeating my class next year, I’ve asked Mr. Mancer to tutor you.”

“What? Wait, no! I don’t need a tutor,” Danny said in a panic as he shook his head rapidly, hair flopping about with the quick motion.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Henderson.” Devon grinned widely. He dropped a hand onto the other man’s shoulder, making Danny jump. “I’ll make sure he knows everything for the exam.”

“Thank you, Mancer.” Mr. Henderson smiled at the two men before gathering up his things to leave. Devon’s grip on Danny’s shoulder tightened as he directed the other man toward the door to the classroom. Once they were out of sight from Mr. Henderson, Danny shoved the other man away from him.

“Keep your hands off me!” Danny growled as he glared at Devon. “I don’t need you to tutor me.”

“From what I’ve seen of your grades, I would have to say you do.” Devon smirked at the man standing before him.

A cold shiver went through Danny, and he crept back a step until Devon grabbed his hand and pulled him closer. An arm wrapped around the shorter man’s waist, laying a hand on the small of his back as their bodies pressed close together. Danny struggled in the man’s hold, trying desperately to escape without using his ghost powers.

“I’ll be at your house at seven sharp,” Devon whispered into the half ghost’s ear, relishing the shudder spreading through Danny. He released the man, his smirk firmly in place. With a wave, Devon turned down the hallway and walked away.

Danny’s shoulders shook with suppressed rage and frustration, grinding his teeth as his glare bore into the back of the new man’s head. _Of all the students in this school, Mr. Henderson had to choose him to be my tutor_ , Danny thought furiously.

“You don’t look so happy,” Sam commented when she found her friend fuming outside his last class. “What happened now?”

“That – That – Arg! Mr. Henderson made Devon my math tutor!” Danny shouted, his face reddening with anger. “Now I have to spend time with that creep outside of school.” He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. “Why do you hate me?” He shook a fist, making Sam wonder if Danny finally snapped.

“It can’t be that bad.” Sam cringed when Danny shot a glare at her. “Maybe he’s just teasing you because you’re so easy to get a reaction out of.”

“Oh yeah, that’s the reason.” Danny rolled his eyes. He started walking down the hallway with Sam trailing behind him. “I can’t believe that guy’s going to be tutoring me.” Danny hung his head in depression. “You’re smart. Isn’t there anything you can do to help me?”

“Math isn’t one of my best subjects,” Sam replied, feeling sorry for her friend. “Maybe if you just ignore him, he’ll get bored and stop teasing you.”

“So you’re saying I should let him grope me all he wants?” Danny frowned at the images that suggestion put into his mind. “Besides ignoring bullies doesn’t do anything. I’ve already tried that with Dash, and he just doesn’t give up picking on me.” Sighing, he held the door open for Sam. “Why can’t I just be normal and have a normal life?”

“Because you have two crazy ghost hunters for parents,” Sam answered with an innocent smile. “And even though you have those ghost powers, we still love you all the same.”

Sam’s cheeks tinged pink, and Danny offered her a small smile. They went through a whole huge soap opera the previous year when both Tucker and Danny confessed to Sam. Sam then confessed her feelings to Danny. But after months of dating, the strain on their relation with each other and their relationship with Tucker became too much. The trio decided it was best if they simply remained friends and dated outside their little group.

“Anyway,” Sam continued after clearing her throat, “being bullied is a part of life. It is normal.”

“Gee thanks,” Danny said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “But that Devon guy gives me the creeps.” He still couldn't explain that. It wasn't simply the groping thing. Something else about the man was giving him the bad vibe.

“At least it’s only tutoring,” Sam said as she tried to find some positive spin on the situation. “It could be worse. He could start stalking you.”

“Oh, don’t even start tempting fate,” Danny grumbled. “I’ll see you later.” He waved to Sam as they went their separate ways heading for their cars. When Danny got to his car, he tossed his book bag onto the passenger’s seat as he climbed into the driver’s seat. As he drove home, his mind played through different scenarios the whole time.

When he arrived at his house, Danny grabbed his book bag and slammed the door shut after he got out. Upon entering his house, he heard a loud boom from the laboratory. With a roll of his eyes, he climbed up the stairs heading to his room. He tossed his book bag onto his bed and turned to boot up his computer. The doorbell rang, making Danny groan in annoyance. He left his room, jogging back downstairs to answer the door since he knew his parents probably wouldn’t hear the doorbell while they were in the laboratory.

“Hell – oh, it’s you,” Danny grumbled upon opening the door to find the new student standing on his doorstep. “I thought you would be coming over later.”

“I figured why wait?” Devon smirked when Danny frowned. “Aren’t you going to be a good little loser now and invite me in?”

“Oh, please do come in,” Danny muttered as he stepped aside.

Devon entered the Fenton’s house, giving a quick sweep of what he could see from the front hall. He wasn’t impressed at all by the house. Then again, he was used to much more extravagant houses. His home in New York seemed like a million dollar mansion in comparison. He followed the man into the front room, watching the slight sway in Danny’s hips. He had to admit the man had a rather enticing rear end, but he didn’t find the rest of the man as appealing.

“Please have a seat,” Danny murmured, gesturing toward the couch. “I have to go get my books.”

“Don’t bother. I have the text book with me.” Devon smirked at the frustrated look that crossed Danny’s face. He sat down on the couch, pulling out their math text book and setting it on the table. Danny hesitated before sitting down as well, but he sat as far away from the new student as the couch allowed. “So starting with today’s work,” Devon said as he flipped the text book open to that right page.

“That doesn’t look right.” Danny frowned as he pulled the book toward him for a closer look. The longer he stared at the page, trying to figure out why it looked so strange, the more tired he felt then his vision went black.

Devon waved a hand before the half ghost’s face. When Danny didn’t react, he reached into his book bag and retrieved the small syringe from within the bag. Then he took one of the man’s arms and pierced the needle into the crook of his elbow. The green liquid drained from the syringe as Devon pushed down the plunger. After he emptied the contents of the syringe into the other man, he removed the needle and stored it back into his bag. When Devon snapped his fingers before the half ghost’s eyes, Danny jerked, blinking rapidly as his brow drew together in confusion.

“Did you want to start the tutoring session or not?” Devon asked, acting like his was angry with the other man for spacing out.

“Oh, um, sorry,” Danny mumbled and pushed the book back toward the new student so he could start explaining how to do the problems. He scratched his right arm as Devon started speaking. A weird sensation came over him. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, but his body felt heavy, like it weighed more than usual. He didn’t want Devon to think there was anything wrong with him so he tried to concentrate on what the new student was saying. But he soon grew frustrated because he couldn’t understand what Devon tried to teach him and angry because Devon kept moving closer to him as time passed. After two hours, he finally got to say goodbye to his “tutor,” who had to leave to go home. He sighed with relief and climbed up the stairs to his room where he could rest for a little while.


	4. Chapter 4

“So now you think this Devon guy might be a ghost?” Tucker asked after Danny finished telling his friends all about the strange things that occurred around Devon ever since his arrival at Casper High a few weeks ago.

“No, he would have set off my ghost sense if he were,” Danny replied, talking to Sam and Tucker over the phone as he picked at the sheets on his bed. “But wherever I go, he pops up and starts harassing me. It’s like he’s stalking me or something. And I thought Dash was bad? This guy is ten times worse.” There was a pause before he grumbled, “At least Dash doesn’t grope me every chance he gets.”

“Wow! I never thought I’d hear you say you prefer Dash to anyone,” Tucker said.

Danny had the urge to hit his friend, but he couldn’t do that over the phone. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t go anywhere without Devon showing up suddenly. How are we supposed to enjoy the movie tonight if he shows up at the theater?”

“I may have an idea,” Sam said, though she was a little worried that Danny wouldn’t agree to it.

“I’ll do anything!” Danny shouted, desperate for a chance to enjoy himself at the movies without the worry of Devon ruining it.

“All right.” Sam nodded to herself. “Then I’ll see you here in a little while?”

“Yeah, I’ll come right over.” Danny and Sam hung up their phones, leaving Tucker sitting on the other end listening to the dial tone and wondering just what Sam was planning. Sam picked up the phone again and dialed a phone number of another friend, one that she never introduced Danny and Tucker.

“Hi, it’s me, Sam,” she said as soon as someone answered the phone. “I need your help with a little project. Bring everything you think might be useful. See you in a few!” She hung up the phone and then raced up to her room.

Danny arrived at Sam’s house, feeling slightly apprehensive about what she was planning. It could be anything at all, and was suddenly wondering if he was better off not going through with this. He knocked on the door, rocking on his heels as he waited. After the door was thrown open, Sam, grinning wickedly, pulled her friend inside.

“So what’s this idea you’ve got?” Danny asked as he followed Sam up to her room.

“Danny, I’d like you to meet a friend of mine,” Sam said, opening the door to her room to reveal a short man sitting in the midst of a sea of outfits and make-up. “This is Abner.”

“Hey, Danny!” Abner stood and walked over to shake the other man’s hand. The top of the man’s head only reached up to Danny’s eye level. His dusty blond hair stuck up in a few places, and his pale hazel eyes sparkled but held a hint of depression. He was dressed in a sleeveless black shirt and green plaid pants that hugged the delicate curves of his hips.

“Hi.” Danny shook the man’s hand. He couldn't remember seeing Abner before at school. “What exactly are you planning, Sam?” He turned to his friend, waiting for an explanation.

“Abner, here, is going to help me disguise you in a way that Devon won’t be able to recognize you.” Sam offered a weak smile, worrying about Danny's reaction.

“And how do you plan on disguising me?” Danny’s brow furrowed as he tried to figure out what the woman was planning.

“I think this one would look best,” Abner said, holding a dress up to the man.

Danny gaped at the other two teenagers as they started talking like he wasn’t even there. Sam and Abner picked through the various dress laid out around the room. “Wait! Your big idea is to dress me up like a girl?”

“Would you rather have Devon stalk you?” Sam asked as she glanced at Danny, who frowned then resigned himself to his fate. “All right, Abner. I think the one you chose is best. I’ll leave and let you take care of things.” She walked out the door, closing it behind her.

“Can – Can you undress?” Abner asked, shifting his weight to the other foot.

Danny sighed as he pulled his shirt off and tossed it to the side. “So why did Sam call you, of all people, to help with this?” He undid his zipper and let his pants drop to the floor, pooling around his feet.

“I’m studying to be a fashion major,” Abner answered. “And I work at a drag queen club and help them dress for their shows. So, um, I have access to a few things we’ll need.” He held up clear implant-like items shaped like women’s breasts. Danny took one, squishing it in his hands. “They’re the same consistency and firmness as a real breast so no one will be able to tell they’re fakes. I thought a B cup would be a good size for you.”

“You work with drag queens?” Danny’s brow rose in shock. The other man nodded timidly as he helped Danny put on a bra to support the fake breasts and hold them in place. _This is the weirdest thing I've ever done_ , he thought, fighting back a blush.

“If my parents ever found out, I’d get kicked out of the house,” Abner said with a small laugh. “But I’ve been working there for a while, stashing my earnings away in a secret account. I plan to move away once I have enough saved.”

“Why?” Danny thought aloud then mentally slapped himself. It wasn't any of his business.

Abner shrugged the question off as he pulled the dress up Danny’s body. “My parents never wanted me. I was an unexpected mistake. My dad hates me because I’m too girly. And my mother hates me because I wasn’t born a girl. I figured if I move out on my own, I would make everyone happy.” He grinned weakly before walking around behind the other man.

Danny slipped his arms through the sleeves that belled out past the elbow and had a narrow strip of white lace along its edges. Abner thought this dress would be the best choice since it had least amount of frills and lace compared to the rest of Sam’s extravagant collection of Lolita dresses. The dress reached down to Danny’s knees and didn’t puff out too much. Taking the ribbon around the man’s waist, Abner pulled it tight and tied it into a bow.

“Do you mind lace on the socks?” Abner asked, holding up the pair of socks in question.

“You’re one of the masterminds behind this.” Danny shrugged. At this point, it didn’t matter much to him since he already let the man put him in a dress. He lifted one foot and let the man slip on one of the black knee-high socks with white lace at the top. After the second one was on, Abner went to search through Sam’s closet for shoes. Danny caught his reflection in the full length mirror and blushed at the sight he saw. Wearing a dress felt more than a little strange, but seeing that he didn’t look half bad made it feel even weirder.

“Aha!” Abner exclaimed, coming out of the walk in closet with a pair of black flats. “I wouldn’t want you to break your neck wearing high heels,” he said with a wink and then bent down to help the man put on the shoes.

“Good idea,” Danny said, laughing weakly. Wearing high heels didn’t sound too fun, so he was glad the other was sensible enough to choose flats instead.

Abner stood, walking over to the door of the bedroom and opening it. “All right, Sam. It’s time for the final touches.”

Sam came into the room, grinning, and Danny suddenly felt scared. “Take a seat, Danny.” Sam pointed to her bed. Danny hesitantly sat down and waited to find out what the “finishing touches” were. Sam sat beside him and took one of his hands. She started cutting and filing down his nails while Abner worked on the man’s dark locks, attempting to give him a more feminine look.

“This would work better if his hair was a little longer,” Abner said as he slicked back the dark strands. A few bangs refused to obey the man and hung down in Danny’s eyes. "Maybe a wig?"

“I don’t think it looks that bad,” Sam said, glancing up from painting her friend’s nails. Abner sighed and decided he did the best he could.

“Is all this really necessary?” Danny asked, eying the man with worry as he grabbed a make-up kit off the floor.

“You have to look the part if this is going to work.” Sam finished his first hand and moved to his other side to do the second hand.

Abner searched through the kit until he found the right shade of lipstick. He grabbed Danny’s chin to hold the man’s head still as he dragged the stick over Danny’s lips, making them only a shade darker than normal. Once that was done, he returned to searching the kit for the next item. He dabbed the black eye shadow on lightly so that it wasn’t too dark. The last piece of make-up he applied was mascara to make Danny’s lashes look longer and more feminine. When he finished, he took a step back to examine his work.

“Done,” Abner announced with a wide, satisfied smile. Sam forced Danny to stand, spun him around, and then nodded her approval.

Danny took a look at himself in the mirror. “Oh god! I – I look like a girl!”

“That was the point, wasn’t it?” Abner asked, glancing at Sam.

“Yeah, but I mean - Wow! I really look like I could be a girl.” Danny released a laugh, thinking of how Tucker would react.

“Well, Abner, I believe you’ve outdone yourself this time.” Sam grinned when the man blushed. “Do you want to join us? We’re going to see that new Dead Teacher movie.”

“I don’t know,” Abner said shyly, dropping his gaze to the floor.

“Oh, good idea!” Danny said after he got over his shock. “Abner and I can arrive together and ‘accidentally’ meet up with you and Tucker.” He grinned like it was the best plan in the world. “It would be kind of suspicious if I was hanging out with you and Tucker like this. But if I’m with Abner when I arrive, no one will know.”

“I, um, okay, I guess,” Abner stuttered.

“Then I guess I’ll see you at the theater,” Sam said. “But, Danny, if you ruin that dress, I will kill you.” Danny smiled weakly in response as he followed Abner out of Sam’s room.


	5. Chapter 5

“This is so embarrassing,” Danny mumbled as he walked with Abner to the ticket booth. He tried to readjust the bra to be a little more comfortable, but Abner slapped his hand, giving him a stern look that told Danny to stop fussing with it. Not much time passed since he first put on the bra, and already it made him want to burn the darned thing. Then there was the dress itself, the skirt of it being the worst part. He hated the way it exposed his legs and the slight draft he felt with every step he took. He hadn’t considered the consequences of walking around in drag. Now almost every man he passed seemed to take notice of him, and he couldn’t stop blushing at the looks they gave him.

“I think you’re getting more attention than I ever do when I dress in drag,” Abner whispered with a laugh.

“I feel like I shouldn’t be surprised, yet I am. You dress in drag?” Danny blinked large looking eyes. The make-up felt odd, and his lashes seemed too stiff. He had to resist the urge to rub at them and risk messing up the make-up.

“Yeah.” Abner scratched behind his ear. “Call it a security blanket or whatever.” He shrugged. “I just feel more comfortable in women’s clothing. It’s kind of freeing in a way, an escape, I guess you could say. Besides, I don’t get beat up as much when I look like a girl.”

“Do you – Oh god! Devon’s already here.” Danny groaned when he saw the new student leaning up against the wall of the movie theater.

“Why don’t you go in, and I’ll get the tickets?” Abner suggested. Danny reached for the purse Sam gave him before he left her house, but the man stopped him. “I’ll pay for you.”

“You better not think this is a date or something.” Danny teased.

“Didn’t you know I’m just trying to get into your panties?” Abner laughed at the other man’s shocked reaction. “You guys were nice enough to invite me along so let me pay for you in return.”

Danny nodded with a small smile, feeling a little odd about another man paying for him. He glanced one more time at Devon, who kept looking around in search of his victim, before he walked into the theater. As he headed toward the concession stand to get popcorn and sodas, he sensed the presence of another ghost. Could he never catch a break? He scanned the lobby and frowned when he caught sight of a familiar face: Skulker. He stomped over to the ghost.

“What are you doing here?” Danny demanded in an angry whisper so that he wouldn’t draw any attention to them.

Skulker turned to face the half ghost, looked him up and down, then smirked. “Ghost Boy, is that you?” He stepped closer to the man with a menacing expression on his face, like a predator about to pounce on its prey.

Danny gulped and stepped away, his back meeting with the wall. For a moment, he forgot what he was wearing. “I – I’m sorry,” he stuttered in a higher than usual voice. “I mistook you for some else.” He started to turn to escape when Skulker punched his fist into the wall by his head, making him flinch. _When did Skulker get a physical body?_ Danny wondered as he searched for some way to escape.

“I don’t believe that,” Skulker whispered into Danny’s ear, placing a hand on the half ghost’s hip. He grinned as the man squirmed at the touch, his eyes darkening with anger.

“Take your hand off me,” Danny ordered in a threatening tone.

“Or what? You’ll punch me?” Skulker laughed as he stepped in closer. “If you fight me, you’ll give yourself away. You should learn to act more ladylike.” He grinned as he pulled the half ghost against him, amused at the how easy it was to get a reaction from his former prey.

“Stop it,” Danny whispered, choking on the words as he tried to push the ghost away. “Get off me!” he shouted when Skulker’s hand slid too far down from the small of his back.

“She said to stop,” someone said behind the ghost.

Then Skulker’s hands thankfully disappeared from Danny’s body. Danny looked up to see Dash shove Skulker across the lobby toward the exit door. Once he threw the ghost out of the theater, Dash returned to Danny, who was still too stunned to move.

“Are you all right?” Dash asked, placing a comforting hand on the half ghost’s shoulder.

“I, um,” Danny murmured, still in shock, but smart enough to make his voice sound more girly. _Dash saved me?_ The thought kept running in his mind like it was on a loop. He lifted his gaze to meet the jock’s eyes and swallowed the lump in his throat.

“You should be more careful,” Dash continued. “Guys like that will try to take advantage of pretty girls like you.” He gave a charming smile, though it faded quickly when the “girl” continued to stare at him in shock. “Perhaps I could act as a bodyguard for you. You know, keep away guys like that for you.” Still not getting a reaction, he sighed. “I should probably start with introducing myself. The name’s Dash Baxter.”

“I, uh, Dan-Dani,” Danny started to say then wanted to smack his forehead when Dash gave him a suspicious look. “Elle. Danielle. Sometimes Dani for short. Uh, full name’s Danielle Masters.” He giggled nervously, but the jock seemed to buy it.

“Danielle, huh?” Dash played the name over in his mind and then smiled. “It’s pretty. So, about my offer-”

“There you are!” Abner shouted, jogging over to the two. “I almost thought you disappeared on me.”

“Ahaha! Abner!” Danny moved away from the jock to the shorter man. “I was just talking to this man. Um, Dash, was it? This is my cousin, Abner.”

“You’re cousins?” Dash glanced between the two, not seeing the family resemblance at all.

“Yeah!” Danny nodded, nudging the shocked man in the ribs. Abner looked terrified of the jock, and Danny wondered if he got bullied by Dash too.

“Oh, right!” Abner joined in, nodding shakily. “My aunt and hi- Her! Father just got married.”

“My father thought I should come down here and visit my new cousin,” Danny added, thankful that Abner caught on to his lie.

“Then you won’t be staying here long?” Dash almost looked hurt by that fact. “Where are you from?”

“Wisconsin,” Danny answered with the first place that popped into his mind.

“We should probably go look for my friends now,” Abner said upon noticing his “cousin” was panicking just as much as he was. “They should be arriving here any moment now.”

“Maybe we could hang out sometime while you’re in town,” Dash suggested, his gaze never leaving Danny’s eyes, which only made the man more nervous.

“Well, um, I, ma-maybe,” Danny stammered out and almost wanted to kill himself when he heard the answer that left his mouth. _What the hell am I thinking? The answer should have been no! Why am I saying I might hang out with him?_

“We, uh, have to go now,” Abner said, grabbing his “cousin” by the arm and pulling him away from the jock.

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Danny exclaimed once they were out of sight of the jock. “Why did I just say ‘maybe’ to Dash’s question? Oh god! I’m such an idiot! And why the hell was he asking me out? Just because I’m in a dress, he thinks he can hit on me?”

“Calm down, Danny. All you have to do is avoid Dash whenever you dress in drag.” Abner tried to comfort the man.

“Have you noticed how that doesn’t work?” Danny glared at the shorter man. “Bullies have, like, a sixth sense for that kind of stuff. They know immediately when you’re trying to avoid them and go out of their way to find you just so they can torture you. What am I going to do?”

“What’s up with him?” Sam asked as she approached the two men, noticing immediately something was wrong from the expression on Danny’s face and the way they both jumped when she spoke.

“Whoa! That’s Danny?” Tucker pointed at his friend wearing a Gothic Lolita dress. He gaped in shock, unable to get over how pretty the man looked dressed as a woman.

Danny glared at his friend, repressing the urge to smack Tucker, whose eyes kept running up and down his friend’s body. Danny wrapped his arms around his waist, feeling awkward and vulnerable under that gaze.

“Well, Dash was, um-” Abner started to say, but Danny slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Don’t even say it,” Danny whispered in a threatening voice. He didn’t want anyone to know that Dash tried to ask him out on a date. It was even more embarrassing than wearing a dress. _Or maybe repulsive is a better word_ , he thought. “Let’s just go watch the movie and try to have a good time.” He stomped off toward the room showing the movie with the other three following behind him. Having a good time seemed impossible to him at this point.

“So what happened?” Sam whispered to the shorter man.

“Dash was hitting on him,” Abner whispered back. The two of them broke into laughter, making Danny vow pain on them both. All the while Tucker kept glancing at the three in confusion.


	6. Chapter 6

“Dash, are you feeling okay?” Kwan asked while the two men leaned against their lockers as they waited for Paulina to finish with her woman stuff. “You seem kind of out of it today.” He glanced worriedly at his friend.

“Yeah,” Paulina said in agreement as she fixed her eyeliner. “When Fenton walked by earlier, you totally ignored him. You’ve never let him walk by without saying something demeaning or threatening to him. What’s up with you today?”

“It’s nothing.” Dash let a heavy sigh escape him.

“It has to be something if you’re sighing like that.” A smirk crossed his face as Kwan nudged his friend in the ribs with his elbow. “Are you having girl problems? Who is it this time? Alice? Sandy? Brittany?”

“No one you would know,” Dash snapped with his head held high in a show of superiority. “She’s not from Amity Park.”

“Oh, so that’s it!” Paulina grinned at her friend. “You’ve got the hots for some chick that you can’t be sure you’ll ever see again. Who knows when she’ll go back home?”

“Do I have to remind you about that little crush you had on Inviso-Bill?” Dash glared at the woman, who blushed at the memory of that childish crush. He couldn't really blame her for having the crush on their hometown hero, since he still remained a big fan of Danny Phantom. Then he sighed as he leaned his head back against the lockers. “I don’t know what it is about this girl, but I haven’t been able to get her off my mind. I didn’t even think to ask for her number!” Dash smacked his forehead, feeling stupid for both forgetting and feeling obsessed with the woman. She even haunted his dreams.

“Well, she’s visiting, right?” Paulina asked. “So that means she’s staying here with someone, right?”

Dash’s brow shot up, and he almost smacked his head again. “I can’t believe I almost forgot. She’s the cousin of someone here. Um, what was his name?” Dash scratched his head in thought. He hadn't really paid much attention to the cousin since he couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. “Abner!” He snapped his fingers, grinning at his victory in remembering the man’s name. “He’s a short, blond guy, who dresses kind of weird.”

“Oh, Abner Faust! He’s in one of my classes,” Kwan said. “If you write a note, I could pass it to him to give to his cousin.”

Dash didn’t like the idea of writing a note to the woman. It seemed a little childish, in his opinion. But he had no other way to contact her at the moment. Sighing, he turned around and opened his locker. After grabbing a notebook and pen, he wrote a quick note to the woman before ripping the page out of his notebook. Then he folded the note and handed it to Kwan. The bell rang shortly after that, making the three friends groan in disappointment. They waved to each other before going their separate ways.

Kwan sighed as he collapsed into his seat in his physics class. He was a bit shocked to discover Dash was crushing on some woman from out of town. For as long as Kwan had known the jock, Dash was never too interested in the women that he hit on. It always seemed like Dash did it just because it was expected of him to be the “ladies man.” He really thought Dash might actually-

Kwan’s attention was drawn from his thoughts when he noticed the shorter man bounce into the room, humming along to the music playing through his headphones. The other students gave Abner weird looks as usual. Kwan found the man’s eccentric style rather refreshing. Abner didn’t constantly force himself to fit some mold created by the rest of the school or his parents or even society. Kwan had to admit that he was quite envious of that freedom. Sometimes he felt trapped as a jock and a popular kid, but mostly by his parents.

Standing from his seat, Kwan crossed the room to where the man sat bobbing his head along to whatever was playing in his CD player. He chuckled rather loudly at the man, whose head snapped around to face the jock. A light blush colored his cheeks, feeling embarrassed for being laughed at.

“Dash wanted me to pass a note to you,” Kwan explained as he reached into his pocket to retrieve the note.

“Um, what?” Abner stuttered, blinking at the jock. “Why - Why would he give me a note?”

“Actually, it’s for your cousin. Apparently, Dash forgot to ask for her number, so he doesn’t know any other way to contact her.” Kwan laughed. “Your cousin must be something if she’s got Dash all in a fluster.”

“Right.” Abner laughed nervously as he eyed the note warily before taking it. He watched the jock walk away then dropped his gaze to the note. Dash wanted to contact his “cousin?” Abner worried that if Danny continued with the whole charade, Dash would eventually find out the truth. He shuddered at the thought of how that would end. With a sigh, he tucked the note into his pocket as the teacher walked into the room to begin class.

After school ended, Abner wandered through the hallways until he found Danny hanging out with his friends. He walked over to them as he pulled the note from his pocket.

“Someone has an admirer,” Abner announced in a singsong manner, holding out the note to the man who pretended to be his cousin.

Danny accepted the note with a curious expression. As he read it, his eyes widened, and his mouth hung open in shock. “He wants to go on a date with me!” At Danny’s exclamation, Tucker broke into laughter at his friend’s misfortune.

“Are you going to do it? Go on the date?” Sam asked, almost a little too eager to dress up her friend again.

“Are you insane?” Danny snapped and punched Tucker in the arm when he laughed.

“I’m sorry,” Tucker said between chuckles, “but the idea of you and Dash dating is just too funny.”

“You can laugh all you want, but that’s not going to happen,” Danny said stubbornly as he folded his arms over his chest. _I can’t believe Dash actually wants to go on a date with me. Well, the female me_ , Danny thought, stunned. He didn't think he made that great of an impression at the movie theater.

“Fine, but you better make sure you reject him clearly,” Abner said, ripping the man out of his shocked state. His eyes blinked at the shorter man, and Abner released a sigh in exasperation. “If you don’t respond to that note, I’ll probably be the one getting beaten up by Dash.”

“Great,” Danny muttered, glaring at the note. “The only good thing to come from me dressing in drag is that Devon didn’t know who I was. Now it’s either I continue with the charade and go on the date with Dash or I reject him and become the target of his aggression.” He kind of liked when he walked by earlier and Dash _didn't_ say or do anything to him.

“So what do you plan to do?” Sam asked, taking the note out of Danny’s hands so that she could read over what Dash wrote. A small growl escaped her friend as he pulled at his hair in thought.

“I guess my only option is to go along with the cross dressing, as humiliating as it is,” Danny grumbled. He really hated the idea, but he decided the humiliation was worth it to get away from Devon. That man still set off the bad vibes, and Danny still couldn't figure out the reason. He suspected a ghost, but he lacked any evidence to support it. Devon clearly wasn't possessed by a ghost.

“Whoa! Rewind! You’re going to go on the date with Dash?” Tucker exclaimed. Sam and Abner slapped their hands over his mouth to keep him from saying anything more. They looked around wearily, but none of the other students seemed to have heard him.

“The only way for me to spend time with you guys outside of school is to dress in drag,” Danny explained. “Otherwise, Devon is going to be stalking me. So Dash will probably bump into me like that again eventually. I might as well accept the date. This is so humiliating!” He hung his head and shuddered at the image of him and Dash on a date. Sam and Abner grinned at each other, both thinking of different outfits they could force onto him.

“Ah, I found you!” said someone with a familiar voice behind the group. His body tensing, Danny turned to glare at the new student, who grinned. “Time for our tutoring session.”

Danny sighed as he snatched the note from Sam’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “I’ll see you guys later.” He waved and followed Devon down the hallway.

They entered the school’s library. Devon guided the half ghost through the bookcases to a table in the very back of the library. Danny collapsed into one seat as Devon sat down in the one beside him. Pulling out his textbook from his bag, Devon slammed it down on the table, startling Danny with the loud sound. He flipped it the book open and shoved it in front of Danny.

“These are the problems we’ll work on today,” Devon said, wrapping one arm around the other man’s shoulders as he moved his chair closer.

“I can’t concentrate with you hovering over me like that,” Danny grumbled, moving away. As he stared at the page in the book, his brow creased at the strange affect it had on him. It was like the last time. The more he looked over the page the more his head began to pound. The prickly sense of his foot falling asleep overcame his entire body.

Devon checked again by waving a hand before the man’s face. When he received no response, he reached into his book bag and pulled out a vial and syringe. After unscrewing the lid, he filled the syringe with the liquid inside the vial. Then he took one of Danny’s arms and pressed the needle into the crook of the boy’s arm. Glancing around, he made sure no one was around that area of the library before pushing down the plunger of the syringe.

As he pulled out the syringe, the sound of a book dropping to the ground caught Devon’s attention. His head snapped up, and he scanned the area but he couldn’t find anyone. Frowning, he hoped that no one saw him and that a book accidentally fell on its own, though he doubted that would likely to be so. He stuffed the vial and syringe into his book bag again before waking the half ghost from his trance.

“Are you going to stare at that problem all day?” Devon grinned at the dazed man.

“Huh, um, I,” Danny mumbled as he blinked wide eyes. Yawning, he picked up a pencil to start working on the problem. He rested his head in his hand, feeling suddenly exhausted. The tutoring session dragged on, and Danny found he had to struggle to keep his eyes open. When it finished, he felt rather relieved to be able to leave his tutor’s presence. He decided he would take a nice, long nap before dinner that night.


	7. Chapter 7

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Danny muttered as he dialed Dash’s phone number, glancing at the note to make sure he had it correct. He held the phone to his ear, listening to it ring as his heart pounded in his chest.

“Hello, this is the Baxter resident,” said a woman. “For whom are you calling?”

“D-Dash,” Danny stuttered in a high voice. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he coughed to clear his throat. “Is Dash there?”

“Yes, he is. Please hold for a minute.” The sound of the phone being placed on the counter followed then Danny heard the woman’s footsteps walk away. He didn’t have to wait long for the jock.

“Hello,” Dash said upon picking up the phone.

“Hi, this is Dani-Danielle.” Danny ran a hand through his hair. “Abner gave me the note from you.”

Dash was silent for a moment, making Danny feel panicky about the whole situation. “So, um, did you want to go out?” His voice sounded almost shy, though he managed to hide it well. “I kind of have plans for tonight, but if you want to come along, you can. My friends and I are going bowling. You could even bring your cousin, if you wanted.”

Danny’s mouth worked up and down in shock of what he heard. Dash would willingly hang out with someone like Abner, a “loser” by the popular kids’ definition, in order to go on a date with Danny, the jock’s favorite punching bag? In some part of his mind, Danny almost found it funny. “That sounds like fun.” He released a nervous giggle.

When the bathroom door creak open, Danny spun around to see Abner’s head poke around the door. The shorter man mouthed something to him, but Danny waved him away as he attempted to shut the door again. He managed to shove Abner back out into the hallway before he realized Dash was speaking again.

“So, I could pick you up,” Dash was saying, “Or we could meet at the bowling alley if you would rather do that.”

“I’ll meet you there,” Danny said, not sure why he disliked the idea of being picked up by the jock. Maybe it was because then it would be more like a real date. He was pretty sure that Abner knew where the bowling alley was. After all, there was only one in Amity Park.

“Oh, okay,” Dash said, though he sounded a little disappointed with Danny’s answer. “I’ll see there then. We’re meeting at seven.”

“Okay. See you then,” Danny said, and they both hung up the phone. Afterward, he banged his head on the door to the bathroom, wanting the floor to open up and swallow him. A knock on the door drew Danny out of his wallowing and to the fact that Abner was still waiting for him on the other side. Danny opened the door and stepped out of the bathroom.

“Did you really have to lock yourself in the bathroom to make the phone call?” Abner folded his arms over his chest.

“It’s embarrassing enough that I’m actually agreeing to go on a date with Dash.” Danny handed the phone to the man. “I don’t need you listening in on the conversation.” He released another sigh, running a hand through his hair. “And this will be more embarrassing. But will you go with me? For, like, moral support or something. I don’t want to be the only loser among a group of popular kids.”

“Yeah, except you won’t be seen as a loser.” Abner smirked at the man. “You’ll be popular because Dash wants you to be his girlfriend.”

“I really hate you and Sam right now.” Danny glared, wondering how his life came to this. “I guess I can be happy that Sam was too busy to help me dress up this time. So what will you dress me in this time?”

“Well, Sam gave me some outfits.” Abner led the way down the hall to his bedroom. He dropped the phone onto his desk as he walked toward the bed, gesturing at the dresses laid out upon it. “See anything you like?”

“I am _not_ going bowling in a frilly dress!” Danny wondered why Sam had an obsession with sticking him in frilly black dress and why Sam had such a wide selection of frilly dresses. “Can’t I, you know, wear normal clothes? I mean, it’s _bowling_! Can’t I wear casual clothes?”

“Take all the fun out of this,” Abner muttered, sounding rather disappointed. He walked over to his closet and threw the door open. The two men search through Abner’s “drag” section. Abner pulled out a black mini-skirt and held it up to Danny’s waist. “What do you think?”

“Can’t I wear pants?” Danny asked in an almost pleading voice. He really didn’t like the idea of wearing a skirt that short. Not that he liked the idea of wearing a skirt at all.

Abner threw the skirt back into the closet before retrieving a pair of jeans that he then handed over to the other man. “See any shirt you want to wear?”

“You can pick that out.” Danny changed into the jeans only to realize how much tighter they were than his usual baggy jeans. “Do I have to wear such tight pants?”

“Sorry, but you do.” Abner walked over to Danny. A shirt was thrown over his shoulder as he carried the bra and fake breasts in his hand. “Have you even looked at what girls in our school wear? If not skirts or shorts, it’s tight pants.” Abner stepped behind the man, and together they worked to put on the bra.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.” Danny poked at one of the fake breasts. His brow creased as he thought about how dressing in drag seemed stranger than having ghost powers.

“Well, this is only your second time. Once you start dressing like this on a regular basis, you’ll get used to it.” Abner gave Danny the shirt before walking over to his desk to get make-up supplies.

Danny pulled on the shirt over his head. It was a black shirt with a red butterfly. He frowned at the design, but he decided it was better than the pink shirts he saw in the closet. After he had the shirt on, Danny sat on the bed and patiently waited as Abner applied the proper amount of make-up; just enough to give him a more feminine look. Once that was finished, Abner tried to do something with Danny’s hair, but the messy strands fell right back into their original place.

“I guess we could just use some hair clips,” Abner said with a long, drawn out sigh of disappointment. “If your hair was longer, there are a lot of different things I could have done with it.”

“Just put the clips in, and let’s go,” Danny said in exasperation. He gave the man a shove toward the desk where he could see a pack of clips lying amongst all of Abner’s things.

Once the clips were in place, the two men left the house since it was nearing the time to meet up with Dash at the bowling alley. Abner drove his beat up, old Volkswagen Beatle with the light blue paint chipping off it. According to Abner, it was the only car that cost within the range of money his father would give him to buy one. They arrived safely at the bowling alley half an hour later despite Danny’s doubts.

“I really hate these pants,” Danny grumbled as they entered the building. He didn’t like the bra that much either, but he felt too embarrassed to mention that.

Abner ignored the comment since there wasn’t anything they could do about Danny’s dislike of the pants. His gaze traveled over the lanes, looking for the popular kids that they would be hanging out with that evening. Danny, also, scanned the lanes. But his attention caught on something much different than what he sought.

“Is that Sam?” Danny’s jaw dropped as he stared at his friend, who was smiling and laughing with some guy that he couldn't recall ever seeing. “Who the heck is she with?”

“Ah, that’s not important,” Abner said quickly as he tried to drag Danny in the opposite direction.

“Wait a minute!” Danny pulled his hand out of Abner’s hold. “You knew that Sam was dating someone?”

“Look, Danny.” Abner released a sigh before continuing. “Sam didn’t tell you because she didn’t know how to talk to you about it.”

“But we’re best friends! How can she tell you and not me?” Danny felt rather hurt by this new development.

“It’s because she sees me more as a ‘girl friend’ that she can talk about guys with me while you’re a ‘boy friend,’ which makes her feel uncomfortable discussing that topic.” Abner gave a small squeak when he noticed the jock walking toward them. Danny turned around and felt his heart beat quicken in nervousness as the jock approached.

“I’m glad you could make it,” Dash said, grinning at his date. His eyes glanced at the man standing next to Danny. “And your cousin’s here. Well, I guess that’s a good thing since it’ll make the teams even.” He took Danny’s hand and led them toward the lanes the popular kids had reserved.

Danny stared at the hand holding his hand and tried to stop the blush threatening to color his cheeks. _He doesn’t even notice how manly my hands are?_ Danny wondered. When they arrived at the lanes on the opposite end of the alley, he noticed that it was a group of only a few of the popular kids.

“These are my friends,” Dash announced. “That’s Paulina, Kwan, and Valerie.” He pointed to each person as he said their names. “Guys, this is Danielle.” He grinned at his friends as he wrapped an arm around Danny’s waist. “Oh, and her cousin, Abner,” he added like an afterthought.

“It’s nice to finally meet the mystery girl,” Paulina said with a smirk directed toward Dash. “We usually play girls versus boys, but maybe we should divide the teams up differently this time. I mean, certainly, Dash wants to be on the same team as Danielle.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Kwan agreed with the suggestion. “So Dash and Danielle will be together. How should we divide the rest of us?”

“To make the teams even, I think Kwan should be on the second team,” Valerie said.

“In that case, I choose Valerie as the second member of my team,” Kwan said.

“Then I’ll take Paulina,” Dash said, pulling his friend over to where he stood. “And you’ll take Abner.”

Valerie grumbled about getting the “loser” and told Abner that he better not drag down their score. Kwan set up the names on the scoring board while the others picked out their bowling balls. After picking out his usual size ball, Danny turned around to find Dash looming over him.

“Um,” Danny mumbled, glancing around in uncertainty.

“Dash,” Paulina said as she cut in, wrapping her arms over her teammates’ shoulders, “you know how impatient Valerie can be if we keep her waiting too long. You can stare at Danielle all you want when it’s not your turn.” Danny blushed darkly at the last statement as Paulina guided the couple back to the lanes.

They started their game, and with each passing frame, Danny forgot about seeing Sam on her date. He found that he enjoyed hanging out with the popular kids, even though Dash was practically glued to his side at all times except when it was one of their turns to bowl. Ignoring the arm wrapped around his waist, Danny had fun talking to Dash, shocking him since he expected the jock to be his usual jerky self. But Dash was surprisingly nice, never even making a rude comment about Abner.

“So, Danielle,” Paulina said as Danny sat down after one of his turns, “what sort of charms did you use to worm your way into Dash’s heart?”

“Um, what?” Danny blinked at the woman, who was for a long while the object of his crush. He wondered if Paulina actually _did_ like Dash.

“I’m just curious to know how you managed to snag my best friends heart,” Paulina explained. “I mean, Dash is such a ladies man. He usually doesn’t get all worked up about dating someone. Just look at him.” She pointed toward the jock. “He’s trying to impress you with his ‘awesome’ bowling skills.” She giggled at that. “Isn’t he adorable?”

Danny glanced toward the jock and noticed the look of concentration on the man’s face. _He is kind of cute when he’s not being a big bully_. Danny’s eyes widened as he replayed his last thought. _I did not just think Dash is cute!_ “I – I need to use the washroom,” Danny announced as he stood.

“Oh, I’ll go with you,” Paulina said, reaching for her purse.

“No, no, you should stay. Your turn is next.” Danny hurried up the two steps and toward the restrooms. _Why do girls always go to the bathroom together?_ he wondered as he walked. A hand grabbed his upper arm, causing him to yelp as he was slammed against the wall.

“I was beginning to think you’d never leave them,” said someone with a familiar voice.

“Skulker!” Danny growled as he glared at the ghost. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Do you really enjoy dressing like a girl?” Skulker smirked when the half ghost growled. “We need to talk,” he said, falling into his serious mode.

“Don’t you need to be back in the Ghost Zone? You know, protecting the order and all that crap you spewed out a year ago?” Danny tried twisting his wrists out of the ghost’s hold, but that only caused Skulker to tighten his grip.

“This is important, Ghost Child! There’s a ghost messing with you, and you don’t even notice it!”

“What are you talking about?” Danny eyed the ghost suspiciously. Was he right about there being a ghost involved with Devon? That would explain the vibes he got around the man.

“That guy who dresses in black that you were with in the library.” Skulker loosened his hold.

“You’re spying on me?” So he was right!

“Just listen to me! I think there’s a ghost possessing him to get to you.”

“If he was possessed, I would have sensed it!” Danny kept silent about his own thoughts toward Devon. He didn't want to admit needing help from the hunter. But if Devon _was_ involved with ghost, the question was why. What reason would Devon have to work with a ghost? Devon wasn't attacking him in anyway yet, at least.

“You didn’t sense me approaching you, and I’ve been near you all night.” Skulker finally released the half ghost’s wrists when he noticed the color drain from Danny’s face as fear set in. “When you were in the library, I saw that guy inject something into you.”

“What?” Danny squeaked out as a slight tremble ran through him. What did all that mean? It was true that he never sensed Skulker lurking around, and he still didn't get the usual feeling of a ghost present even with Skulker right in front of him. “How could he have injected anything into me?”

“I don’t know. When he did it, you looked really out of it, like you were in a trance or something. You need to avoid that guy as much as possible.” Skulker sighed, dropping his gaze. “I know the truce between us ended after that whole big war against Warden Walker-”

“You don’t need to explain yourself,” Danny cut in, not wanting to be reminded of everything that happened during that war. He had a hard time keeping his ghost powers a secret while spending most of his time in the Ghost Zone for half a year. His grades suffered greatly as a result, which was part of the reason he needed Devon to tutor him in math.

“Hey!” Dash’s shout made Danny jump. “Is this guy bothering you again, Danielle?”

“Oh, nice cover,” Skulker muttered, smirking at the half ghost.

“Shut up!” Danny snapped as he shoved past the ghost. “Everything’s fine, Dash.” He turned the jock around and started pushing him back toward their lanes. “He just wanted to apologize for being such a pigheaded jerk last time.” He wondered what Devon did to him and why Skulker seemed to be watching him all of the time. He shook the thoughts out of his mind, deciding to concentrate on pretending to have a good time.

When the night ended, Abner mysteriously disappeared, forcing Danny to get a ride back to the Faust’s house with Dash. The whole time he was in the car with Dash, Danny felt anxiety and uncertainty. Would Dash try to make a move on him? Danny could only sit and wonder while he wiped sweaty palms on his pants. Dash parked the car in front of Abner’s house. Danny said goodbye and tried to make a quick exit until he noticed Dash climb out of the car as well.

“What are you doing?” Danny asked when he saw Dash walking around the car to meet him.

“Walking you to the door,” Dash replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Danny swallowed nervously and started walking toward the house. He almost jumped when Dash took his hand. Glancing toward the jock, Danny worried he would notice how sweaty his hands were, but it didn’t show on the man’s face if he did.

“Uh, so I had a really fun time,” Danny said once they reached the door. He was surprised to find that he didn’t have to lie about that. The date was actually a lot more fun than he thought it would be, if he ignored the encounter with Skulker.

“Really? That’s good!” Dash looked relieved to know that. “So if you’re free again before you have to go back home, would you like to go on a real date with me?”

“Uh, well, I don’t know.” Danny dropped his gaze to the floor. For some reason, he felt bad about turning Dash down. Maybe it was because Dash seemed like an okay guy at the bowling alley. “I might be busy with family.”

“I can understand that.” But Dash sounded disappointed. “Give me a call if you're able, and wanting, to go on a date.” Dash lifted his date’s head and leaned toward Danny, who gasped when he felt the chapped lips pressing gently against his painted lips. It lasted only seconds before the jock pulled back, standing up straight again. “Goodnight,” he whispered before turning on his heel to walk back to his car.

Danny stood on the doorstep, staring wide eyed at the back of the jock as the kiss replayed over and over again in his head.


	8. Chapter 8

Lips brushed against each other, gentle and caring and warm, as a calloused hand caressed a heated cheek, hearts pounding in perfect rhythm with each other. Danny leaned into the kiss with his eyes closed, though his mind screamed at him to open them and discover who was kissing him. Slowly, his eyes opened, vision blurry at first. All he could make out was blond hair before a shrill ringing jolted him out of the dreamscape.

Danny’s eyes snapped open, and he stared at the ceiling for a long moment. A groan of annoyance escaped him as he rubbed his tired eyes with his hands. Why was I dreaming about _that_? he wondered, knowing of only one blond who would appear in his dream, though “nightmare” seemed to be a better term for it. He heaved a sigh before throwing off his covers. Climbing out of bed, Danny walked across his room, planning to take a quick shower before school.

Afterwards, Danny got dressed for school. He reached into his closet for his usual white shirt, but something inside made him decide to wear something different for a change. Grabbing the first dark shirt he found, Danny put on the black shirt, not awake enough to read the red print that said “Naked Monkeys ate my brain.” Pulling on a pair of pants next, he didn’t even notice they were much tighter than his usual pants, which were so baggy that they nearly fell off him.

Danny walked down the stairs on his way to the kitchen for breakfast. He covered his mouth as he yawned tiredly, wishing he got more sleep. Upon entering the kitchen, he found his father looking over designs for a new invention while his mother busied herself with making breakfast. It almost made their family seem normal, but then Danny heard growls and shrieks from the frying pan. “Normal” was not a word that appeared in the Fenton dictionary.

“Oh, good,” Maddie said when she turned to see her son standing in the doorway. “I was just about to send your father to go wake you up. Breakfast is almost ready.”

Danny cringed at the thought of eating whatever his mother decided to cook. “I’m not that hungry.” He grabbed an apple from the basket of fruit on the table. “I need to get to school early anyway. I need to speak with someone.” He crossed the kitchen, taking a bite from the apple as he walked.

“Have a good day at school, Son,” Jack called, taking his attention away from his papers long enough to notice his son was leaving.

Danny only waved to his parents as he picked up his book bag. He left the house and headed off to school. When he arrived at Casper High, Danny began his search for Abner, who he didn't see after the shorter man forced him to go home with Dash after bowling.

“Whoa!” Danny spun around at the exclamation to find Tucker coming up to him in the hallway. “What’s with the new look? The only time I’ve seen you wear black is when you go ghost.”

“Felt like a change today,” Danny said with a shrug. “You haven’t seen Abner, have you?”

“I just got here, so no.” Tucker walked along side his friend as they strolled through the hallways. “Why are you looking for Abner? Need to discuss what dress you should wear on your next date?” He snickered at his friend until Danny punched him hard in the arm. “Damn, Danny! Chill out! It was only a joke.” Tucker frowned as he rubbed his arm.

“It wasn’t funny,” Danny growled, glaring at his friend. “Do you think I enjoy dressing up like a girl?”

“How should I know? I’m not you. And you don’t have to all defensive about it.” Tucker glanced at his friend before grinning. “So what was it like being on a date with Dash?”

Danny blinked rapidly, a little stunned by the question. “Why would you want to know about that?”

“I don’t know.” Tucker shrugged. “Curiosity, I guess. I mean, it’s not every day I get to hear about the great Dash Baxter dating a boy in drag. Seeing his shocked face when he finds out would be priceless!” He laughed at the image it produced in his head.

“It’s not funny! It’s cruel!” Danny frowned, eyes narrowing at his friend. “I'm playing with Dash’s emotions. He really seems to be falling for ‘Danielle.’ I don’t think I can continue doing this to him.”

“You can’t tell Dash the truth. He’ll kill you!”

“What happened to you wanting to his face when he finds out?”

“Okay. Yes, I would love to see Dash’s face when he realizes he's been dating a boy.” Tucker paused to chuckle as he imagined it again. “But, dude, he will so kill you when he finds out ‘Danielle’ is really you.”

Danny sighed as he scratched the back of his head in thought. “Well… Maybe he doesn’t have to find out it’s me. I mean, ‘Danielle’ is only visiting. And, you know, they say that long distance relationships never work.”

“Right. But then you still have that one problem in the form of Devon.” Tucker point out, causing Danny to groan.

“Did you have to mention Devon?”

“What are you saying about me?” The question made Danny freeze, and the hand suddenly squeezing his butt made him jump away. Danny spun around and glared at his tutor.

“What do _you_ want?” Danny demanded, keeping a good distance between Devon and himself.

“Well, I saw this sexy little ass and just had to come and give it a squeeze.” Devon smirked at the shorter man.

“Do you take some sort of sick pleasure in sexually harassing Danny?” Tucker asked dryly as he narrowed his eyes at the new student.

“Oh, I take great pleasure in it.” Devon continued smirking. He stepped toward Danny, who took several steps back. He chuckled at this reaction. But his expression quickly soured when he noticed the man who Danny bumped into when he took another step back.

Danny glanced over his shoulder to see Dash. He gulped, shrinking away from the jock. Dash’s gaze was directed at the new student, and he looked rather angry with Devon. Danny inched slowly toward where Tucker stood, hoping he could get away from the two men who enjoyed tormenting him. He didn't get very far when someone grabbed him. Devon dragged the shorter man against him, taking the opportunity to grope Danny, who growled as a blush colored his cheeks.

“It’s so nice to meet you again, Blondie.” Devon smirked at the jock. Danny glanced at Tucker, silently pleading his friend for help. Tucker shrugged helplessly, knowing he could do nothing to save Danny from the new student and the jock.

“I warned you earlier,” Dash growled, nostrils flaring and hands clenching into fists.

“Did you? Hm, I can’t seem to remember that.” Devon pretended to look thoughtful for a moment. “Maybe you can repeat whatever this ‘warning’ is?” His smirk grew wider when he noticed the jock grinding his teeth.

Dash stomped over to Devon. He grabbed Danny by the arm and tore him roughly from the other bully’s hold. Danny stumbled away, and Tucker caught his friend before he ran head first into the lockers. Dash grabbed the front of Devon’s shirt and shoved him into the lockers on the other side of the hallway.

“This might be a good time for us to make our exit,” Tucker whispered, tugging on his friend’s shirt. Danny seemed far too interested in what would happen between the two bullies to respond to his friend’s statement.

“Dash!” The shout drew the jock’s attention briefly away from Devon. Kwan jogged down the hallway toward his friend. “Forget about that stupid guy. Coach called an emergency meeting.”

“Meeting?” Dash stared at Kwan before glancing at Devon. “What’s the meeting for?”

“I’m not sure. I think he said it has something to do with Jordan.” Kwan looked toward the new student. “Will you put him down and come on?”

Dash’s eye twitched in annoyance, but he eventually relented and released his hold on Devon. “You got off lucky this time,” he growled, pointing a finger at the new student. Then he turned and stomped past Kwan as he headed toward the men’s locker room for the emergency meeting. Kwan glanced toward Danny before he followed his teammate.

“Well, now that the blond meat head is gone,” Devon said, smirking at Danny, who backed up into the lockers behind him.

“Leave him alone,” Tucker ordered as he stepped between the two men. He struck a lame Kung-Fu pose.

Devon rolled his eyes at the man’s poor attempt to protect his friend. Grabbing Tucker’s wrist, he twisted the arm behind the man’s back. “I can understand that you want to protect your friend,” he whispered into Tucker’s ear. “But I just want to speak with him for a moment. Now you have two options. You can leave willingly, or I could break your arm.” He twisted the arm, making the man wince.

“Aha ha!” Tucker laughed nervously. “It was nice talking with you, Danny, but I have to go now. See ya!” As soon as he was free, Tucker ran down the hallway. Danny gaped at his friend’s back, shocked that the man abandoned him to suffer whatever torment Devon decided to bestow upon him.

“Aw, look at that!” Devon grinned at the shorter man as he stepped closer. “He left you all alone with me.”

Danny inched along the lockers until a hand suddenly shot out and slammed against the cool metal right by his head. Gulping, he lifted his gaze to find Devon’s face inches from his own. “What do you want?” Skulker's warning replayed in his mind. But how was he supposed to avoid Devon when the man constantly sought him out?

“I was thinking we could have a tutor session tonight.” Devon stepped closer to the shorter man. “We could have it at my place.”

Danny placed his hands on his tutor’s chest and pushed him away. But Devon refused to budge and leaned closer to the shorter man, making Danny feel uncomfortable.

“Mancer!” shouted a familiar voice. “If you continue to harass other students, I will suspend you. I warned you once already.”

“Sorry, Mr. Lancer.” Devon stepped away from Danny. “I promise it won’t happen again.” He glanced toward the other student and gave him a smirk before walking down the hallway past the teacher.

With a disapproving look, Lancer watched Devon leave. Danny breathed a sigh of relief, surprised that for once, he was extremely thankful for Lancer’s appearance.

“Fenton!” Lancer shouted, making the man jump. “My office. Now.” Lancer started walked back to his office.

Danny hung his head and followed the teacher as he wondered what he could have done this time. When they reached the vice-principal’s office, Lancer gestured to the chair for Danny to sit in while he walked around his desk to sit in his own seat. Danny dropped into the chair, head down, waiting to be yelled at.

“I’ve been looking at your record, Fenton,” Lancer said, sounding disappointed. “Your grades have taken a serious turn downhill. Well, except for your English grade. You’re doing exceptionally well my class.”

“Must be because you’re such a great teacher,” Danny said, lifting his head to grin at his teacher.

“Don’t suck up to me. It won’t help you.” Lancer gave the man a stern look, and Danny dropped his gaze again. “I’ve spoken to your other teachers. Mr. Henderson has informed me that he has already assigned that Mancer boy to tutor you in math." He frowned, looking surprisingly unhappy with that fact. "Today during your free period, you will meet Dash and Kwan in the library.”

Danny’s head snapped up as a shocked expression settled onto his face. “What? Why?”

“Kwan will be tutoring you in history, and Dash will be tutoring you in French,” Lancer explained. “I’m still looking for suitable people to tutor you in your other courses.”

“But why them? Can’t you find someone else?” Danny couldn’t believe that Lancer would choose those two jocks to tutor him.

“Kwan is at the top of his class in history, and Dash is practically fluent in French. If I were you, I would be thankful that they are willing to take time out of their busy schedules to help you pass your classes.” Lancer gave the man another stern look, and Danny shrank in his seat. “You will be at the library the second your free period starts. If you’re late, I will know about it, and you will receive detention.”

“Isn’t that a little unfair?”

“I am trying to help you pass your classes so that you can graduate!” Lancer shouted furiously, slamming a fist onto his desk. “It may seem a little extreme, but I have been very lenient with you. I had hoped that you would get your grades up on your own, but you haven’t put any effort into it. And I know you'll capable of getting the grades you need if you only try.” He leaned back in his seat. “You're dismissed. I wouldn’t want to make you late for your first class.”

Danny stood and left the office, wondering how much more crap he would have to deal with before the year ended. _Of all the people to tutor me, he had to pick Dash and Kwan!_ He ground his teeth in frustration. Kwan wasn’t so bad, but Danny couldn’t stand the idea of having Dash as a tutor. _As if Dash doesn’t torture me enough, now he gets to use tutoring as a means of torture_.

“Danny!” Snapping his head toward the source of the shout, Danny found the shorter man jogging up to him. “Tucker said you were looking for me,” Abner said when he reached the other man.

“You!” Danny growled. “Why did you leave me alone with Dash last night?”

“Um, well, I can explain,” Abner said with a weak smile. “But, um, maybe we should go somewhere a little more private.” Danny agreed only because more and more students started filling the hallways. After following the other man for a while, Danny entered an empty classroom. Abner closed the door and locked it to ensure no one would wander in on their conversation.

“So explain.” Danny folded his arms over his chest as he leaned against the teacher’s desk. “Why did you force me to go home with Dash?”

“Well, you know, it was sort of a date, so it only makes sense that Dash should drive you home.” Abner laughed a little, but Danny didn’t finding it amusing. With a sigh, he tugged on his ear in nervousness. “Well, you see, I really don’t like being around Dash. I’m afraid… that he’ll realize…” He trailed off, hanging his head for a moment.

“That Dash will realize what?” Danny prodded the man to continue.

“I guess it would be best if I explained from the beginning.” Abner raked his hand through his hair. “Last year, my friend and I went to a club. We were all decked out in drag. At the club we went to, we ran into Dash. I was so freaking scared that he would recognize me. But he didn’t. Anyway, my friend – he goes to another school – he thought Dash was really cute so he started hitting on Dash all night long, but Dash was, well, hesitant to accept his advances. Dash kept trying to put distance between him and my friend.”

“Did Dash ever find out your friend was really a guy?” Danny asked when the man paused.

Abner’s brow creased as he frowned. “Well, it was kind of obvious that he was a guy. My friend doesn’t exactly look that great in drag. There’s also the fact that it was a gay club.”

“Whoa!” Danny stood up straight and gaped at the man. “You mean Dash went to a gay club?”

“Y-Yeah. So do you see why I’m nervous about being around him? I’m afraid he’ll beat me up, or even kill me, if he realizes I was there that night and know he visited a gay club.”

“The question is: what the hell was Dash doing at a gay club?”

“Experimenting?” Abner suggested with a shrug. “But I really doubt he’ll be happy to know that we know he was there.”

“Great,” Danny muttered as his shoulder sagged. “Now I have another reason for Dash to kick my ass.”

“Oh, yeah, before I forget.” Abner reached into his pocket and produced a note. “Dash handed this to me when we passed each other earlier.”

Danny took the note and read it. Afterward, he groaned in annoyance. “Dash wants _another_ date with ‘Danielle.’ And he wants it to be tonight.” He sighed as he folded up the note and stuffed it into his pocket. “I guess this will give me the chance to have ‘Danielle’ tell him she’s returning to Wisconsin.”

“Aw! Ending the relationship so soon!” Abner pouted in disappointment. Danny started to say something when the bell signaling the start of first period rang. “I guess I’ll see you after school, and I can make you all pretty for your date with Dash.” He grinned before leaving the classroom. Danny sighed, wondering how much worse his life could get as he, too, left to head to his first class of the day.


	9. Chapter 9

“Stop saying everything in French!” Danny’s desperate plea made Kwan grin, though he did feel sorry for the man. Dash was a harsh tutor, and Kwan knew that well since his friend also tutored him in French. Kwan walked through the aisles of bookcases, looking for the history section to grab some books for Danny to read to help with his essay assignment. Turning down the right aisle, Kwan bumped into someone. The other person stumbled backwards, falling onto the ground as the books he had been carrying flew out of his hands.

“I’m sorry. Are you all right?” Kwan asked as he crouched down and started gathering the fallen books.

“I – I’m fine,” said the man in a hesitant voice that made Kwan’s head snap up.

“Abner!” Kwan was stunned to see the shorter man. “What are you doing here?” He stood with the books in his hands.

“Obviously, I came here to look for some books.” Abner attempted to snatch the books from the jock’s hands. But with his quick reflexes, Kwan held the books out of Abner's reach. “Can I have my books back?” Abner glared at the jock.

Kwan glanced at the titles of the books. “These are about… fashion?” He stared at the shorter man, who blushed brightly.

“Yeah. Got a problem with that?” Abner frowned at the jock as he folded his arms over his chest. “I need those books. Please give them back.”

“Why do you need books on fashion?” Kwan wondered out loud, noticing the man blush even more.

“Like you really care,” Abner mutter as he grew more frustrated with the current situation. He only wanted to get his books back and leave as soon as possible.

“Tell you what. I’ll return your books if you help me with something.” Kwan grinned as he waved the books over the man’s head like he was taunting a cat with a piece of string.

“Why do you need my help?” Abner's brow creased in worry as his guts twisted in nervousness. One of the popular kids wanted his help? That sounded like a set up for something humiliating.

“It looks like you’ve become pretty good friends with Fenton recently. So you’ve probably noticed the whole thing between him and Dash.” Kwan paused, waiting for the man to nod his head. “Well, I, for one, am sick of it. Their whole hatred for one another had to come from somewhere, right?”

“Right,” Abner said, drawing out the word as he nodded his head. “So why exactly do you need my help?”

“I want you to help me figure out what started the hatred between Dash and Fenton and get them to stop fighting. So the first thing we need to do is snoop on Fenton.” With a spark of excitement in his eyes, Kwan waited for the other man’s response.

“You want me to spy on Danny?” Abner frowned, not liking the idea.

“I’ve already did all the snooping I can on Dash, and I couldn’t find anything.” Kwan sighed in depression. “The next logical step is to search Fenton’s place for clues. Obviously, I can’t do that without breaking and entering. But you’re his friend, so you could easily get into his house.” He stepped a little closer to the man, towering over him. “Don’t you want to help put an end to their fighting?” A grin slid onto his face, causing Abner to gulp nervously.

Abner ground his teeth as he thought about it. From where they stood, he could hear Danny yelling at the blond jock while Dash shouted back in French. He couldn’t deny that it would be nice to see those two men getting along, which drew up images of Dash and “Danielle” on their semi-date. He released a sigh in defeat as he stared up at Kwan. “I guess it couldn’t hurt. We could check tonight. Meet me in front of the school.”

“Okay. I’ll see you then.” Kwan smiled as he lowered his arms to return the books to the man.

Abner accepted the books, murmuring a “thank you.” They stood there with Abner clutching his books to his chest and his eyes cast down upon the floor. Twin shouts of “Kwan” snapped them out of the awkward silence. Abner muttered a hasty goodbye then he scurried off to the front of the library.

Kwan didn't even get to say his goodbye before Abner fled. Running a hand through his short locks, he released a sigh as he headed back toward the table where he left Dash and Danny. The two men turned to him when he arrived. Both men looked angry and were red in the face from all their shouting.

“What’s all the shouting about?” Kwan asked, taking a seat beside his teammate.

“Kwan, please make him stop speaking in only French,” Danny pleaded desperately.

“Do you want to pass your French class or not?” Dash demanded, turning to glare at Danny.

“How am I supposed to learn it if I can’t understand anything you’re saying?” Danny returned the glare. Kwan could sense the tension and hostility between the two men. Before he could say anything, Dash stood, pushing back his chair with enough force to knock it over, causing it to drop with a dull thud upon the carpeted floor.

“If you’re not going to try to learn, then I’ll just tell Lancer to find you another tutor,” Dash stated angrily as he packed up his books. “I don’t know why I even bothered to waste my time on you.” Slinging his book bag over his shoulder, he turned and stormed toward the front of the library.

“Why does he always have to be such a jerk?” Danny grumbled, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his seat.

“He’s not that bad.” Kwan picked the chair up and set back on its legs. He turned to Danny, staring at the man before saying anything more. “I mean, yeah, he can be a total ass while he’s tutoring. He’s like that with everyone though, so don’t feel like he’s just doing it because he hates you.”

“I don’t get why he hates me so much,” Danny muttered, not meeting the other man’s gaze. “I never did anything to him. Anyway, we better get on with this tutoring session, or Lancer will give me detention.” He sighed, leaning forward and cracking open his history book. Studying history with Kwan wasn’t as horrible as Danny first expected. The time seemed to fly by, and he had a few pages for his essay already written by the time the bell rang. As they were walking out of the library, Danny asked, “Why don’t you tutor me in French?”

“Dash is really better for that subject.” Kwan smiled weakly at the grumpy expression that passed over Danny’s face. “Look. I know he’s tough, but you should give him the chance. He’s the best tutor for French.”

“But how can I learn anything from him if he only speaks in French? I don’t understand anything in French!” Danny sighed, wishing he actually attended school more the previous year so that he didn't fall so far behind in his classes. “At this rate, I won’t have the grades to graduate this year.”

“Which is why it’s best to let Dash tutor you. I have to get to my next class, but you should give Dash a chance.” Kwan jogged down the hallway toward his next class.

“Yeah, that’ll go great,” Danny muttered sarcastically as he walked toward his next class.

After school, Danny dropped his things off at home before heading over to Abner’s house to prepare for his date with Dash. _This is the last time_ , Danny told himself, wanting to get this “date” over as soon as possible and end the charade for good. When he reached Abner’s house, he knocked on the door. When the man opened the door, his face lit with a happiness that made Danny worried.

After much debate between the two men, Abner finally got his way. Danny took a rather long shower, and much cursing from him, he exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist. He entered Abner’s bedroom and glared at the man, who was happily searching his closet for an outfit that Danny could wear on his date.

“I hate you,” Danny muttered as he walked across the room to sit on the other man’s bed. “Tell me again why I had to shave my legs.”

“Because you’re going to be wearing a skirt,” Abner answer simply, walking over to his desk. He picked up a bottle of lotion and tossed it to Danny. “Rub some of that on your legs.” Then he walked back to the closet while Danny squirted out some of the lotion into his hand.

“Why do I have to wear a skirt? Can’t I just wear pants again?” Danny rubbed the lotion over his now smooth skin, feeling very strange about not having hair on his legs anymore. _How do girls put up with shaving every day?_ he wondered. He nearly slipped and cracked his head open when he was in the shower. It was an experience he hoped to never repeat.

“No!” Abner said with a whine as he walked over to Danny, carrying the chosen outfit in his hands. “You have to wear a skirt! Don’t you want to make a good impression?”

“Abner, are you crazy?” Danny asked in as flat a voice as possible, shooting a glare at the man. “I’m only going out with Dash this last time to break it off with him. I do _not_ want to look good for him.”

“Too bad. You’re opinion doesn’t matter.” Abner grinned, throwing the clothes at Danny just as the doorbell rang. “That’s probably Dash. Think you can handle getting dressed by yourself?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Danny muttered as he started working on putting on the bra. Abner disappeared from the room just as Danny succeeding in getting the bra on by himself. After the bra, the difficult part about dressing as a woman was over. He slipped on the black skirt that only reached down to mid-thigh, and he felt just as awkward as he had when he wore Sam’s Gothic Lolita dress the first time. The shirt Abner had picked out for him was a simply black shirt with a red star in the center.

“I think she’s still getting ready. You know women, always keeping the guy waiting,” Abner called as he jogged up the stairs to his room. “You just wait down there.” A few moments later, he burst into the bedroom. “I thought you might need help with the make-up.” He grabbed his supplies and quickly applied the necessary make up so Danny would look like a woman. When he finished, Abner gave him a pair of shoes to wear before leading the way out of his room.

Half way out the door, Danny paused, staring at his reflection in full length mirror. He never really looked at himself when all decked out in drag after that first time. Now that he looked, he found it strange how much he _did_ look like a woman. If he didn’t know better, he would have believed that he was looking at a real live woman and not a man in drag.

“What are you doing?” Abner whispered, having noticed Danny was no longer following him and returned to the room.

“I look like a girl,” Danny mumbled.

“That’s the point.”

“No, but I really look like I could be a girl.” Danny turned to Abner as a horrified expression crossed his face, not completely because of his statement.

“Well, yeah, you have the right body to pull off the drag,” Abner said like it should be obvious. He almost laughed when Danny gave him a confused look. “You’ve got girly curves.” Abner shrugged then dragged Danny down the stairs to where Dash waited.

“Danielle,” Dash greeted with a smile, looking awed at the appearance of his date.

“Hi, Dash,” Danny said, almost shyly as a faint blush stained his cheeks. His heart started hammering in his chest, and he had no idea why he felt a sudden wave of nervousness wash over him.

“Oh, our family doesn’t believe in curfews, so feel free to stay out as late you want.” Abner grinned widely, seeming to enjoy the torment he was forcing upon his friend. Danny turned to glare at Abner when Dash took his hand and led him out the front door.

“So, um, where are we going?” Danny asked hesitantly as he climbed into the passenger’s seat of Dash’s car.

“It’s a secret.” Dash grinned as he started the car and pulled away from the curb. “You’ll have to wait until we get there to find out.” Silence reigned over the car for most of the drive to the secret destination. “You – You look really pretty.” Dash kept his eyes on the road like he was afraid to look at Danny to see his reaction.

“Oh, um, th-thank you,” Danny stuttered as he blushed. He reached up and pushed back a strand of his hair behind his ear. His stomach twisted in uncomfortable knots, causing him to chew on his lower lip in worry. Before Danny could sort out the jumble of things he was feeling, Dash parked the car in the parking lot. It took a moment before the sounds of a carnival hit Danny. He raised his head and blinked in shock at the carnival. His mouth hung open, wanting to ask where they were because he knew there was no carnivals in Amity Park at the time.

The passenger’s side door opened, startling Danny, who looked up to see Dash standing there with his hand outstretched waiting for Danny to climb out of the car. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Danny took the outstretched hand and allowed Dash to help him out of the car.

“I – I thought maybe you would like a carnival,” Dash said, and Danny could tell he was still nervous about impressing “Danielle.”

“O-Oh, yes, a carnival is, um, good,” Danny said, not knowing how else to respond. A pleased smile crossed the jock’s face at that announcement. Lacing his fingers with Danny’s fingers, Dash led his date toward the front entrance of the carnival.

Dash paid the man at the entrance, twelve dollars each, but they would be able to go on all the rides and food and beverages would be free. After they got their hands stamped, Dash guided Danny through the crowd. He pulled his date into one of the attractions, and Danny barely had a chance to read the sign above the door that had “Haunted House” painted on it in dripping red lettering. They wandered around the attraction, Dash watching his date like he expected some sort of reaction. Danny glanced around at the typical haunted house decor with fake cob webs, spiders, and bats. Ghosts flew around over head, and skeletons popped up out of nowhere. If he didn't have four years of experience fighting ghosts, Danny might have actually been somewhat scared by all the decorations in the haunted house.

“What do you think?” Dash asked, whispering in Danny’s ear.

Danny nearly jumped since he didn't notice how close Dash stood behind him. “Um, it’s nice,” he replied, not knowing what answer the jock wanted.

“Oh.” Dash sounded disappointed with his date’s response and backed up a little, giving Danny space. He sighed as he ran a hand through his slicked back hair.

“Hey, Dash!” shouted a tall man as he approached them. “I see you brought a date.” He grinned at Danny, who smiled back weakly and unconsciously stepped closer to Dash.

“This is Danielle,” Dash said, placing his hands on Danny’s shoulders.

“Hello, Danielle,” greeted the man, taking Danny’s hand and kissing the top of it. “I’m Briar. So are you impressed with the awesome job Dash did setting up this haunted house?”

Danny turned and blinked at Dash. “You helped with this?” He had to admit he was impressed, considering it was great improvement from the time when Lancer forced them to make the haunted house during their freshmen year.

“Oh, so you hadn’t told her yet? Perhaps I should just leave you two alone then.” Briar grinned again. As he passed the couple, he whispered to Dash, “By the way, everyone loves the haunted house.” Then he continued on his way back to the front of the house.

Danny turned all the way around to stare at the jock. Dash rubbed the back of neck as he looked away with a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Um, yeah, I helped a little here and there,” Dash answered finally with a small shrug. “But it’s not that great.” He trailed off, glancing back at his date.

“Oh, no, it’s great,” Danny said hurriedly, though he didn’t know why he was trying to cheer up the jock. “It’s just I’ve kind of grown used to ghosts and stuff, so it’s not all that scary to me,” he mumbled as he dropped his gaze to the ground. “I think you did a really good job on it.”

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better.” Dash took Danny’s hand and started leading him toward the exit of the haunted house. “Are there any rides you like?”

“You can choose,” Danny mumbled, feeling bad about disappointing Dash.

 

“So you know what to say and everything?” Kwan asked as he approached the door to the Fenton’s house with Abner leading the way.

“Well, I thought I would kind of wing it,” Abner said, blushing a little from embarrassment. He didn't really think about what he was going to say since he was busy helping Danny. Taking a deep breath, he raised his hand and rang the doorbell. They didn’t wait long before the door opened to reveal the large man that was Jack Fenton. Abner swallowed nervously as he stared up at him.

“Can I help you?” Jack asked, his gaze drifting between the two men on his door step.

“Uh, yeah,” Abner said, forcing down his nervousness. “I’m a friend of Danny. I leant him a book, and I kind of need it back. Would it be okay if I go look for it?”

Jack remained silent for a long while, making Abner and Kwan worry. But then he stepped aside so that they could enter the house. “Danny’s room is the last door on the left.” After closing the door behind the two men, Jack turned away from them and headed back toward the kitchen.

“That was easier than I expected,” Abner murmured, blinking at the broad width of Jack’s back disappeared behind the kitchen door.

“We should start looking,” Kwan said, already half way up the stairs. Abner hurried after him, and they entered Danny’s room. “I never thought Fenton was the messy type.” Kwan kicked some dirty clothes out of the way.

“And you aren’t messy?” Abner raised a brow at the jock. He bypassed the mess with ease since Danny’s room was nothing compared to mess of his own room.

“Actually, no, I’m not messy.” Kwan started searching through Danny’s desk drawers, looking for anything that might hint at what caused the hate between him and Dash. “My parents would kill me if I had a room this messy.”

Abner remained silent, thinking of his father’s reaction every time he entered his son’s room. Quickly squashing the memories of shouts and punches, he started searching the other side of the room, making mental notes to talk to Danny about his fashion. They searched everywhere in Danny’s room but found nothing that even related to the problem between Dash and Danny.

“So there was nothing at Dash’s house and nothing at Fenton’s house.” Kwan sighed as he exited the bedroom with Abner.

“Well, there has to be some evidence somewhere, right?” Abner felt disappointed with the fruitless search. As Kwan walked toward the staircase, Abner paused, glancing around the hallway. A thought hit him, and he pushed open the door to the room across the hall from Danny’s room. Behind the door, he found a room with everything neatly in its place. He crept inside, tiptoeing his way over to the dresser.

“What are you doing?” Kwan whispered angrily from the doorway.

“Searching to see if there’s anything in here,” Abner answered just as his fingers brushed against what he assumed was some sort of book buried beneath some sweaters in the bottom drawer.

“And what do you expect to find in Fenton’s sister room?” Kwan noticed the academic awards on top of the dresser all said “Jazz Fenton” on them.

Abner ignored the question as he pulled out the photo album. He flipped through the pages, and Kwan eventually gave in and sat down beside the shorter man. As they looked through the pages, they made comments about the little Danny and little Jazz featured in the photos. Kwan shifted closer, almost leaning on Abner to see the photos better, though Abner hardly noticed this.

They only got half way through the album when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Without thinking, Kwan grabbed Abner’s hand and dragged the man with him into the closet mere seconds before Jack entered the bedroom.

“He already knows we’re in the house,” Abner whispered, but Kwan pressed a finger to his lips to keep him from speaking again.

“Jack, honey, you better not be eating a candy bar,” Maddie shouted from the ground floor.

“I’m not,” Jack called back, but the two men could hear the familiar crinkle of a candy wrapper.

“The doctor told you to lay off the sweets, so throw that candy bar away.”

“One candy bar isn’t going to kill,” Jack muttered as he dropped the candy bar into the waste bin beside Jazz’s bed. The two men listened to the heavy footsteps of the man leaving the room and thumping down the stairs. Even after he left, they remained in the closet for a little while longer, Kwan with one arm wrapped around the other man’s waist and a finger on his lips while Abner stood with the photo album clutched to his chest, leaning into the jock as his heart pounded rapidly in his chest.

“I – I think it’s safe to come out of the closet now,” Abner mumbled to the finger against his lips.

“Oh, right,” Kwan muttered, sounding a bit embarrassed. He released the man as he opened the closet door and stepped out. Abner hesitated before following the jock while he tried to calm his heart. “I guess we should leave now.” Kwan was already walking out the door.

Abner sighed as he knelt to put the album back into the bottom drawer of the dresser. When he started to shut the drawer, a photo lying on the ground caught his attention. He picked it up, staring at the two figures in the photo before flipping it over to read the names on the back. Gaping at it, he flipped it to the front again.

“Kwan! Come see this!” Abner called, keeping his voice soft enough not to be heard by Danny’s parents. The jock returned to the room and crouched down next to him. Abner showed him the photo, and Kwan ripped it out of his fingers. He stared at it for a moment and flipped it over to the backside.

“Daniel Fenton, age eight, and Dash Baxter, age nine,” Kwan read off the back of the photo. He turned it over again. “This is what they are so angry about?” The expression on his face was a mixture between anger and disappointment. “What babies,” he muttered, pocketing the photo. “Come on. Let’s go.” Kwan stood again, and Abner followed him out of the room.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Jack asked when they reached the bottom of the stairs. The two men froze, startled by the sudden question.

“Um, no, Danny must have the book with him.” Abner nudged Kwan toward the front door. “I’ll just ask him about it at school.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing,” Jack said as he watched the two men leave the house. They waved to the large man before turning away.

“It seems like a silly reason to be arguing,” Abner said once they were out of sight of the Fenton’s house.

“Yeah, it does.” Kwan nodded.

 

Danny sat fidgeting uncomfortably next to Dash in the Ferris wheel compartment. They just climbed into the compartment, and Danny was beginning to regret agreeing to ride the Ferris wheel. The compartment was small, and their legs touched each other no matter how much Danny tried to avoid it. The wheel started to move, and Danny felt his stomach lurch with nervousness.

“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Dash placed a hand on his date’s knee, causing Danny to jump.

“No, I’m not scared of heights.” Danny smiled weakly at Dash, forcing himself not to push the hand away. He cleared his throat and turned to face the jock. “Dash, I have something I need to tell you.” He hesitated when Dash’s smile faded and he almost had a hurt look in his eyes. “I – I’m going back to Wisconsin soon.”

“You’re leaving? Can’t you stay longer?” Dash had an almost pleading expression on his face, though he tried to hide it. “I – I would really like it if you could come to the big game on Friday. I think I would play a lot better if I know you’re sitting in the stands cheering me on.” Dash removed his hand from Danny’s knee and took hold of his date’s hand. “You can at least stay for the game?”

Danny stared at the jock. His heart and his brain were arguing over how to answer. “I – I guess I could ask my dad to let me stay a little longer.” The words left his mouth before he could stop them. He mentally kicked himself for saying that. But the look of pure happiness that crossed Dash’s face made Danny’s heart swell, and warmth washed over him.

“Oh, look!” Dash pointed out the compartment’s window.

Danny turned to see what had made Dash react in such a way. They reached the top of the Ferris wheel right as the sun began to set, painting the sky with pinks and oranges. Danny stared at the sight in awe, wondering if Dash somehow planned for them to reach the top of the Ferris wheel at this perfect moment. Distracted by the sunset, Danny hardly noticing the strong arms that wrapped around his waist until his back pressed up against the muscular chest. His first reaction was to push away from Dash, but instead, he relaxed into the jock’s hold and stared out the compartment’s window as the sun continued its descent beyond the horizon.


	10. Chapter 10

“You look horrible, Danny,” Sam said as she joined her friend, who was sitting on the hood of his car. School ended half an hour ago, and most of the other students who had parking spots already left.

“I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” Danny sighed, running a hand through his hair then scratching the back of his head. “Sam, I think there’s something wrong with me.”

“Why do you think that?” Sam wore an expression of worry.

“I’ve only been on, like, two dates with Dash as ‘Danielle,’ but,” Danny said then sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t get it. I think I’m - I’m falling for him.”

Sam placed a hand to Danny’s forehead, checking to see if he felt hot or something to explain this insane idea. “Danny, how can you like Dash? He’s a bully! A jerk!”

“Not when I’m ‘Danielle!’” Danny snapped. “I know it’s weird. It’s not even right. I shouldn’t be thinking about him like this, but I can’t stop it. I think about him, and it makes my heart beat faster. And god! When he kisses me, I feel like I’m flying. What the hell is going on with me?”

“Okay. I know it was my idea to have you dress life a girl to avoid Devon, but you have to put an end to this. If Dash finds out that you’re ‘Danielle-'”

“I know. Dash is going to freak out.” Danny sighed and lay back on the hood of his car. “He’s going to kill me. I tried getting out of this. I told him ‘Danielle’ was going back to Wisconsin, but then he started talking about how much it would mean to him to have her at the game tonight, and I - I just couldn’t break it off.” He covered his eyes with his arm. “How did it turn out like this, Sam? When did I start falling for him?”

Sam stared at her friend, trying to figure out how exactly she felt about all of this. In the back of her mind, she always kept a little hope alive that they might get together again, but now Danny was saying he might be gay and falling in love with Dash. It wasn’t like she didn’t like homosexuals. After all, Abner was gay. But this was _Danny_! How could Danny turn gay? And to fall in love with Dash? It made Sam’s head spin.

“Well, well, Daniel,” someone said, causing Sam to turn her head and Danny to sit up quickly.

“Vlad?” Danny exclaimed, shocked to see the other half ghost. “What are you doing here?”

“Skulker informed me about your little situation,” Vlad said as he walked closer to Danny.

“What situation?” Sam glanced toward Danny for the answer. She knew of Vlad, of how he tried, on multiple occasions, to steal Maddie from Jack and convince Danny to join him. She couldn’t figure out what the man was doing here now or why Danny didn't immediately change into his ghost form when Vlad appeared.

“This doesn’t concern a child such as yourself, Miss Manson,” Vlad told Sam, who gawked for a moment at the fact that he actually knew her name since they were never properly introduced.

“Danny’s a child too.” Sam glared at Vlad as the little voice inside her head wondered why Danny was only sitting there. The other little voice in her head yelled at her for the lame comeback she used.

“Daniel is no mere child. I’m sure you are quite aware of that fact.” Vlad smirked at Sam before he turned his attention back to Danny. “Now, Daniel-”

“Just say what you want already, Vlad,” Danny ordered in a firm tone that made Sam blink since she never heard her friend speak in such a manner.

Vlad, on the other hand, grew quite used to Danny speak in this manner since the teenager used it all throughout their time in the Ghost Zone the previous year. “Ah, yes, direct as always, I see.” Vlad smiled his approval to Danny. “I’m sure you already know of what I wish to speak to you about since Skulker has already approached you about this matter.”

“I see.” Danny frowned at the older half ghost, not pleased with that answer, though he knew Vlad was trying to be vague so that Sam would have no idea what he was talking about. “Uh, Sam, I’ll see you later. Vlad and I need to talk. Alone.” He smiled at his friend when she gave him a worried look. “Don’t worry. Everything's okay.”

“All right.” Sam looked rather uncertain. “I guess I’ll see you later then.” She slipped off the hood of the car and started to walk away, glancing over her shoulder when she reached the end of the parking lot before turning to disappear around the corner of the school.

“Okay. We’re alone.” Danny stared at Vlad as an emotionless expression crossed his face. “Start talking.”

“I know we haven’t been on the best of terms in the past,” Vlad started speaking, receiving a glare from Danny for dodging the real issue. “Right. Sorry. You wanted me to get to the point. Yes? Skulker told me about your little lack of ghost sense. It has me worried to know that someone as capable as you would allow a mere human, most likely under the influence of some rogue ghost, do such a thing to you.”

“You two are making a very big deal out of this,” Danny muttered, growing frustrated with their babying of him.

“And we should. You’ve been a bit out of it, I believe, ever since the war in the Ghost Zone ended. Yes, Warden Walker was destroyed, and more responsible ghosts, such as Skulker and myself, have taken control of the Ghost Zone. You, however, were the one who managed to completely annihilate Walker. I have always thought, since then, that you have been, oh I don’t know, burdening yourself with unnecessary emotions.”

“I killed Walker,” Danny growled. “Are you trying to say I shouldn’t feel guilt or remorse for what I did?”

“No, of course you shouldn’t. Walker was already dead, so you did not actually kill him. You merely caused his spectral being to cease its existence. The point is there are always causalities in war. Walker’s ceasing existence was something that could not be avoided. Had he remained in existence, the Ghost Zone would constantly be at war with him. You are a great hero to the ghosts, and many of them applaud your courage and strength and have pledged allegiance to you.”

“I don’t feel much like a hero,” Danny muttered miserably. “I know it was to save the Ghost Zone, but I still feel horrible about what I’ve done.”

Vlad sighed, shaking his head. “There’s no getting through those thick morals of yours. You’re just like your father in that sense. I know that attack you used on Walker drained you a lot, but you should still be able to sense ghosts without problems.”

“So Skulker didn’t tell you about what he saw in the library?” Danny asked, and Vlad’s expression turned to one of mild confusion, causing the teenager to sigh. “Apparently, this guy at my school has been injecting me with… something.”

“Oh, that,” Vlad mumbled, nodding his head. “Yes, Skulker mentioned something about that, though he didn’t say anything about it being at the library. I think it would be best if we, being Jack, Maddie, and I, ran some tests on you.”

“You can’t tell my parents about me – us - being what we are!”

“Daniel, do you really think your parents are that dense? After last year, I find it hard to believe that they don’t already suspect something.”

“Well, I have some place to be tonight.” Danny continued, trying to find some way out of confronting his parents with his secret powers.

“Oh, is this about having to go to that football game tonight?” Vlad smirked at Danny, who blushed darkly.

“You heard that?” Danny tried to wipe to scared look off his face as it caused Vlad to smirk more.

“Daniel, I was standing in front of you the whole time you were conversing with your friend. No worries though. I’m sure your parents will love you no matter who you decide to fall in love with, be it man or woman.” Vlad rolled his eyes when Danny started sputtering. “Look, Daniel. I’m not at all surprised that you would fall for someone like that man.”

“You aren’t?” Danny asked after he managed to stop sputtering. His brow rose as he gave Vlad a quizzical look.

“Well, of course. If you’re going to fall for someone, it’s going to be someone who you view as an equal, just like how I fell for Maddie.” Vlad’s reminiscent expression vanished. Then he glared at Danny, who had snorted at his remark. “The point is you are attracted to someone who is domineering and strong. Is that really shocking considering that you are someone of power yourself?”

“Okay. I am _not_ getting love advice from you. Let’s just go get those stupid tests over with.” Danny slid off the hood of his car before unlocking the doors. Vlad smirked, thinking of how simple minded Danny was before climbing into the passenger’s side of the car.

By the time they arrived at the Fenton’s house, Danny wrapped his hands around the steering so tightly that the knuckles were white, and he was two seconds away from attempting to blast Vlad’s head. The older half ghost was driving Danny insane by correcting the way he drove and making offhanded comments about how perfect he and Maddie would be together.

“Oh, will you give it a rest?” Danny shouted as they entered his house. “My mom is never going to leave my dad for you.”

“What’s all this rack- Vlad! How nice to see you again!” Maddie crossed the room to give the man a hug. “What brings you around?”

“Your son actually,” Vlad answered, frowning as Maddie pulled away from him. “I would like to run some tests on him, and he has agreed to entertain my curiosity.”

Maddie’s gaze darted between the two. “What exactly is this about? What sorts of tests do you want to perform on my son?” She folded her arms as her eyes narrowed at Vlad.

“Just a few simple tests.” Vlad waved his hand like the matter was of no importance.

Danny, however, grew frustrated with the way Vlad tried to dodge the answers to certain questions. As much as he hated to tell his mother about his powers, he decided it was probably the only way they would get through this whole thing with enough time for him to get ready for the football game. “Here’s the thing, Mom. I’m-”

“He’s secretly interested in all the ghost hunting stuff we do, but he has been too embarrassed to ever tell you,” Vlad said quickly as he wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and drew him closer. “He offered to help me with a project, but first I wanted to check some of his physical capabilities. You don’t mind if I use you lab, do you?”

“Oh, well, if that’s all!” Maddie smiled at her son before cupping his face and placing a kiss on his forehead. “I’m so proud to see you’re taking an interest in our work.”

“Where’s Jack?” Vlad asked, trying not to seem suspicious in any way.

“Oh! He’s upstairs resting. He wasn’t feeling too well our latest… explosion,” Maddie said, wincing in memory. “Did you want his help as well?”

“I’m so very sorry to hear that,” Vlad said, with, Danny could tell easily, false sincerity. “Daniel’s the only one I need to help me at the moment. Well, Daniel, shall we head down to the lab now?” Before Danny could protest, Vlad pushed him toward the kitchen while Maddie went on her merry way up the stairs to check on her husband.

“What the hell are you playing at, Vlad?” Danny demanded as they entered the laboratory.

“No worries, young Daniel. I simply decided that it was best not to have your mother, well, mothering you about this whole thing.” Vlad started searching through the equipment in the laboratory to find what he needed for the tests. “Mothers are like that, as I’m sure you know. And Jack, well, I’m sure you wouldn’t want him to do something to ruin the test results.”

“Okay. That sounds all logical and stuff, but I know you have an ulterior motive.” Danny glared at Vlad as he sat down on the table Vlad cleared off for him.

“You can’t trust me after everything we’ve been through?” Vlad gave Danny a disappointed look as he started his tests.

“It’s because of everything we’ve been through that I don’t trust you. Why did you keep me from telling my mom when you were the one who said they would still love me for being what I am?”

“Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking that you’ll eventually agree to let me train you better.” Vlad smirked as he gently pushed the teenager down on the table. “Now just relaxed, and everything will be over shortly.”

Danny sighed, closing his eyes as he tried his best to relax. But knowing that Vlad was about to do – Well, Danny really didn’t know what sorts of tests Vlad would be doing on him, but he found it hard to relax knowing that Vlad was doing anything to him. After an hour or two, Vlad finished taking all the samples from Danny that he needed and pushed the teenager out of the laboratory so he could perform all the necessary tests on the samples.

“Mom, I’m going to the football game tonight,” Danny called up the stairs as he reached the front door.

“Have fun, sweet heart,” Maddie yelled back. It sounded like Jack said something as well, but Danny couldn’t understand the muffled shout. “Jack, will you just lay still and relax?”

Danny rolled his eyes as he walked out the front door. When he arrived at Abner’s house, Sam and Abner were already busy deciding on what he should wear to the football game. “I’m not wearing that horrendous dress!” Danny informed Sam when she held up another one of her Gothic Lolita dresses. “And I’m not wearing another skirt.” He turned to glare at Abner, who was holding up a black mini-skirt. Abner pouted but didn’t argue with the other man.

“So what happened with Vlad?” Sam whispered to Danny as Abner was searching his closet for jeans and a shirt that Danny could wear.

“Huh? Oh, it wasn’t anything important,” Danny replied vaguely as he made a face at one of the shirts Abner held up: pink with little red hearts all over it.

“Uh, your arch nemesis comes all the way here from Wisconsin to talk to you, and you brush it off as nothing?” Sam raised her brow at Danny, who did his best to ignore it.

“Look, Sam. It’s nothing for you to worry about, so just let it go.” Danny walked over to Abner, grabbing the pink shirt out of the boy’s hand and throwing it back into the closet. He didn’t want to tell Sam about where he disappeared to all last year. He didn’t want to cause her to worry more about him. He could feel Sam’s eyes burning a hole in his back, but Abner soon pushed her out of the room so that Danny could change. Danny quickly pulled off his normal clothes and dressed in the latest outfit for “Danielle.” After Abner finished applying the make-up, the two men exited the bedroom.

“What are you trying to hide, Danny?” Sam demanded with her arms folded over her chest.

“What about what _you’re_ hiding, Sam? Since when can’t you tell me things like about you having a boyfriend?” Danny shot back, causing his friend to sputter then deny it. “I saw you with him at the bowling alley, so you can’t act like it’s not true.”

“Fine,” Sam grumbled. “I only didn’t tell you because I didn’t think you would be happy for me.”

“Did you think I would sabotage your relationship or something?”

“We’re going to be late if you two keep arguing like this,” Abner said from where he stood in the open doorway. “And I believe you’re already late for your date, Sam.”

“Oh, shoot!” Sam dashed out the front door, forgetting to be mad at Danny for keeping secrets. Danny sighed in relief as he and Abner walked to the car and then headed to the football game.

 

“Dash, will you stop avoiding me?” Kwan demanded, trailing after his friend, who nervously paced around the entrance to the football field, waiting for Danielle to appear. Ever since he found the picture in Danny’s house, Kwan tried to talk to Dash about it, but his friend kept dodging the question.

“She came,” Dash whispered, sighing like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Kwan groaned at the announcement, knowing that he missed his chance to get any information from his friend. Dash walked toward Danielle, who came to the game with her cousin. “I – I’m glad you could make it.” Dash smiled at the woman.

“Yeah, I managed to convince my parents to let me stay a little longer.” Danny forced a smile that Dash took for sincerity.

“Well, I’ll just leave you two love birds alone,” Abner said, grinning to himself as he trotted off, not even noticing the glare that Danny sent toward him. He spotted the other jock and decided to see if Kwan managed to weasel anything out of his teammate.

“The, um, game is about to start,” Dash said, glancing briefly over his shoulder to see the coach waving at him to hurry back. “I hope we can hang out after the game.”

“O-Okay. If it’s not too late.” Danny put on another smile as he watched Dash jog off to the rest of the time for a last minute pep talk with their coach.

“Danielle!” The sudden exclamation made Danny jump, and he tried to hide his squeak. He spun around to find Paulina standing there, grinning like a devious child trying to appear innocent. “Perhaps you don’t remember me. I’m Paulina. We were on the same team when you went bowling with us.”

“Oh, no, I remember who you are,” Danny said, smiling at Paulina. A little voice in the back of his mind was now crying because the only reason Paulina even approached him was because she thought he was a girl.

“Why don’t you come and sit with me during the game? It’ll get pretty boring if you’re just sitting around by yourself.” Then without waiting for “Danielle” to say anything, Paulina took Danny’s hand and led him to where she was sitting before she noticed Danny’s arrival. After they settled down into their seats in the bleachers, Paulina turned on him, startling Danny. “So Dash told me that you might be leaving soon. That’s so disappointing! You have to at least stay for the dance.”

“Dance? There’s a dance?” Danny asked with a look of absolute confusion since he heard nothing about a dance.

“Yes! It’s next Friday. You must come shopping with me!” Paulina took Danny’s hand, completely ignoring how manly it was. “I have this dress in mind that I think you will look absolutely fabulous in!”

“B-But Dash hasn’t even asked me to the dance,” Danny mumbled, trying to find some way out of this.

But Paulina took the mumbling as disappointment. “I’m sure he was planning on asking you. He probably was just waiting for the right moment.” She gave him a small, reassuring smile. “I bet he plans on asking you after the football game. Let’s go dress shopping this weekend!” Danny tried to get out of that suggestion, but Paulina’s persistence made him inevitably give in to her wishes.

For the rest of the game, Danny had to sit with Paulina, listening to her talk about make-up and clothes and dances and boys. He contributed as much to the conversation as he could without looking too much like an idiot. At least, he thought so. Paulina seemed to find his comments amusing. When the game ended, Casper High winning by a large lead, Danny tried to make a quick escape, but Paulina stuck on him like glue until Dash could change and catch up to them. Paulina waved to the couple as Dash guided Danny off to his car.

“Are you hungry?” Dash asked, holding the door open for Danny.

“Um, well,” Danny mumbled, but before he could give a real answer, his stomach growled. He blushed darkly in embarrassment, but Dash only smiled at him as he closed the passenger’s side door.

“I know it’s not a very fancy place, but I hope you don’t mind burgers,” Dash said, climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the car.

“Burgers are fine,” Danny said as he glanced around the car for something to keep his mind distracted. But his gaze ended up falling on Dash, and he started remembering the events of their previous date. Dash noticed his staring and smiled at Danny, who blushed as his heart skipped a beat. He turned his head to look at the window. They arrived moments later at Nasty Burger, which didn’t surprise Danny.

“Before we go inside, there’s something I want to ask you.” Dash blocked Danny’s way of getting into Nasty Burger. He hesitated a moment, taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. “My school is having this dance next Friday, and I was really hoping that you would go with me.”

Despite knowing the question was coming, Danny couldn’t stop the gasp from escaping him nor his heart from beating faster. He tried to make his mouth say that he couldn’t go, but instead, the words “I’d love to go with you” popped out. Dash smiled at the response and wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders as they entered the Nasty Burger where the rest of the football team gathered to celebrate their win. But Danny felt a growing sense of dread as a little voice in the back his mind pointed out that Dash only liked him because he thought that Danny was a woman named “Danielle.”


	11. Chapter 11

“So you’re still dateless for the dance?” Sam asked Tucker as they wandered through the mall eating ice cream, though Sam’s was a special tofu ice cream.

“Yeah, but don’t change the subject.” Tucker still felt shocked over what Sam told him. “Danny really said he might be falling in love with Dash?” He stared with wide eyes as Sam nodded. “But it’s _Dash_! How can Danny like him?”

“He seems just as confused about it.” Sam shrugged, not understanding any better than her friends. “So, um, since we’re both dateless, do you want to go to the dance together? As, like, friends.”

“But Dash? He’s done so many awful things to Danny! How can he start liking that jerk?” Tucker paused and stared at Sam. “Go to the dance together? But what about your boyfriend?”

“Yeah, but Danny’s done some pretty bad things to Dash, too, using his powers.” Sam shook her head in that disapproving way she usually used when thinking of Danny’s inappropriate use of his powers. “And my boyfriend,” Sam mumbled, sighing as she looked away. “We broke up last night.”

“What? Why? I thought you two were really happy together.” Tucker looked confused, though inside he was jumping for joy. He never really liked Sam’s boyfriend all that much.

“We were. Until last night.” Sam sighed again, dumping her ice cream cone in the trash can as they passed one. “He started telling me how I should act more like a regular girl. He said I should start wearing less black and drop the whole vegetarian thing.”

“That jerk! You’re perfect the way you are. Why would he want you to change?” Tucker grumbled to himself, but he forgot that Sam could hear him.

Sam blinked at her friend as she replayed the words in her mind. “You think I’m perfect the way I am? But what about the whole vegetarian versus meat lover protest thing we had back in freshmen year?”

“Okay. I don’t really understand the whole no face no eat thing, but that’s part of who you are. So who am I to argue with your way of thinking?” Tucker shrugged, pretending that he didn't hear her first question and ignoring that strange gut twisting sensation that suddenly attacked him when he realized Sam might figure out the truth he hid so well for the past year.

“Ah, well, it seems you’ve matured a bit since then.” Sam smiled a little. “But seriously, you think I’m perfect the way I am?”

“Is that Danny?” Tucker pointed toward their friend dressed as a girl walking through the mall with the man who was pretending to be his cousin.

“Abner and Danny didn’t say anything about coming to the mall.” Sam frowned, looking a little disappointed. “I hope they aren’t shopping for some more clothes for Danny.” She started to walk toward them when Tucker grabbed her arm.

“Paulina.”

“I thought you got over that little obsession.” Sam turned to glare at Tucker.

“No, I mean Paulina’s walking over to them.” Tucker pointed toward their friend again, and Sam looked over to see Paulina approach Danny and Abner. “I wonder why Paulina wants to talk to Danny and Abner.”

 

“I’m so glad you came!” Paulina said upon approaching “Danielle.” She noticed the other man beside “Danielle” and looked a little surprised. “Oh, you brought your cousin too.”

“Well, yeah, he’s the only source of transportation I have,” Danny said with a smile forced onto his face.

“Oh, well, that’s okay. That will give Kwan someone to talk to while we try on dresses.” Paulina grinned as she took Danny’s hand and started dragging him off to a dress shop.

“Ah, but I,” Abner started to say as he tried to followed them, but then a hand landed on his shoulder and pulled him back.

“Let the girls have their fun shopping.” Kwan smiled at the shorter man. “This will give us the chance to talk.” With his hands on the man’s shoulders, Kwan guided Abner to one of the food stands in the mall. “I’m guessing you probably haven’t tried talking to Fenton about that picture we found.”

“Er, no, I haven’t. Did you get a chance to talk to Dash?”

“Well, I tried.” Kwan sighed, running a hand through his bangs. They reached the front of the line, and Kwan ordered two cheeseburger meals for them, not even bothering to see what Abner might want. When they’re food came, Kwan picked up the tray then led Abner over to one of the seats. “He kept avoiding me when I tried to bring up the whole thing between him and Fenton. Then you and your cousin arrived and the game started so I couldn’t try again because after the game, he went off with Danielle.”

“I – I see.” Abner glanced around the mall as he sipped his soda. He wasn't really listening to what Kwan said, too preoccupied with what was happening with Paulina and Danny. Paulina could ruin the whole thing for Danny if she found out that he was cross dressing.

Kwan noticed that Abner seemed to have his mind on other things. “So… you’re into fashion?”

“Huh?” Abner snapped his head around to Kwan and nearly choked when he sipped too fast from his soda. He blinked a few times before the question registered in his mind. “Oh, um, yes, fashion. I’m, um, planning to major in it.”

“Majoring in fashion? Interesting.” Kwan poked at his fries as he tried to think of something more to say. “I guess that explains all those book on fashion you had in the library.”

“Um, so… what do you plan to do, er, major in?” Abner shifted uncertainly in his seat. Talking with a jock was a strange experience for him. He was almost half waiting for the other man to try shoving him in a trash can.

“I haven’t actually given it a lot of thought.” Kwan frowned, now feeling rather pathetic. “My parents keep pushing me to become a doctor, but I’m not really interested in that kind of thing.” He shrugged before taking a large bite out of his cheeseburger.

“Does it really matter what your parents want you to do? You should do what makes you happy.” Abner glanced in the direction he saw Paulina drag Danny off in, hoping his friend wouldn’t be found out. “What sorts of things make you happy?”

“You obviously don’t know my parents very well.” Kwan sighed as he gave a small shake of his head. “If I don’t do things their way, I can kiss my college tuition goodbye.”

“Oh, come on! Your parents can’t be that bad.” Abner frowned, thinking of his own parents, who would sooner disown him than admit to actually being his blood parents to their friends.

“Trust me. You have never met my parents so you don’t know how bad they are.” Kwan stared at the man for a long time, debating different topics in his mind. “I really like playing football, but it’s not something I would want to do professionally. I know Dash feels the same way. He’s already got so many plans for himself set out. And I really enjoy history, though I don’t know what good that does me.”

“Why not be a history teacher then?” Abner suggested in a quiet voice. “I know it’s a very high paying job, but you would at least be doing something that involves something you like.”

“My parents would hate you if they ever met you.” Kwan laughed as he imagined how his parents would react if he ever introduced them to Abner, who was currently feeling somewhat offended by that comment. “So… want to bet on how long the girls will take shopping for dresses?”

 

“I don’t know what you’ve done to Dash, but he has had a serious change in his personality,” Paulina told Danny as she sifted through different dresses. Danny pretended to glance through them as well, though a sinking sensation twisted in his gut. “I’ve never seen him so happy before. Oh! Here’s the dress!” Paulina pulled a pink dress off the rack and held it up for Danny to see.

Danny stared at the dress, trying to keep his eyes from bugging out of their sockets. “Pink?” he squeaked. “You want me to wear a pink dress?”

“Yeah, I think you’ll look really pretty in it.” Paulina smiled at Danny, who still stared apprehensively at the dress. When Danny didn’t react in any way, Paulina rolled her eyes. “Oh, come on! A little pink isn’t going to kill you. And Goth? That is so over. You really should try to wear something other than black.” She took Danny’s hand and started leading him to one of the changing rooms.

“It’s not like I’m wearing black to be Goth,” Danny grumbled as Paulina shoved him into an open changing room. “Hey, what are you doing?” He panicked when Paulina followed him into the room and shut the door behind her.

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m helping you change into the dress.” Paulina rolled her eyes again, a habit that Danny was growing to hate in the woman. She reached out to grab the hem of Danny’s shirt, but the man jerked away, slamming his back into the wall with the mirror hanging on it.

“I can change by myself!” Danny’s voice rose a few octaves, fearing that Paulina would discover the truth. A thousand thoughts ran through his mind at what might happen when Paulina found out he was “Danielle,” and none of them had good results.

“Don’t be silly. It’s not like you have anything to be ashamed of with that body.” Paulina cornered Danny in the small changing room. She grabbed the hem of the man’s shirt, and despite Danny’s attempts to stop her, she managed to wrestle the shirt off him. “Now, that wasn’t so ba- Oh my god!” Paulina gaped at Danny, who had wrapped his arms around his body like he could hide the truth. She blinked a few times before the whole think sank in, and she glared at Danny. “God, Danny!” She smacked him on the shoulder, hard enough to make Danny wince. “Why the hell would you do something like this? Do you even know how Dash will react when he finds out the truth?”

“I’m sorry!” Danny sighed as he slid down the wall to sit on the ground. “I never wanted any of this to happen! I was just trying to avoid Devon because he was stalking me and wouldn’t leave me alone. It was all Sam’s idea to do the drag thing, then I ran into Dash at the movies, and he saved me from this other guy, and things just got carried away.” He buried his head in his arms. “I tried to get out of it, but then Dash asked me to the football game, and I stupidly said yes. Then after the football game, he asked me to the dance, and I kept telling myself to say no, but the words just came out of my mouth before I could stop them. Dash is going to kill me!”

“Well, um, you could just, I don’t know, not go to the dance with him,” Paulina suggested, trying to be helpful.

“I can’t do that,” Danny muttered. His hands tightened around his upper arms. “This whole thing has me all confused. Why can’t I just say no to Dash?”

“Oh my – You actually _like_ Dash!” Paulina knelt beside Danny, placing a hand on his arm. “Wow! This, like, really complicates things.” She sighed as she pushed back some of her hair with her free hand. “Dash, well, he’s not really the kind of guy who will take well to another guy liking him. And I should really hate you for tricking my friend like this. Yet, there’s this part of me that is just gushing over the idea of you and Dash hooking up. You two are so cute together.”

“Yeah, if it weren’t for the fact that he’ll _kill_ me,” Danny muttered miserably. “And if I were really a girl, I wouldn’t have to go through all this drama about liking him.” He lifted his head, his eyes red and tears starting to slide down his cheeks. It was a good thing he had convinced Abner to skip the mascara or else it would be running down his face at the moment. “You’re going to tell him, aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not getting my head chewed off by Dash. Besides if anyone’s going to tell him, it should be you. I know that telling him is probably the last thing on your mind, but if you just explain the circumstances to him-”

“What? He’ll just forgive me?” Danny snapped. “I’ve been deceiving him! Sure, I didn’t want to do it because I knew it would hurt him and he would kill me for it, but I just couldn’t say no to him. I tried! God knows I tried! But I just couldn’t say no. I didn’t want to deceive him like this.” Danny didn’t even want to think about explaining the situation to Dash. That would involve questions, which most likely would have answers that Danny didn’t want to give.

Paulina stared at Danny, feeling rather sorry for the poor man. She couldn’t imagine what Danny must be feeling and going through in this sort of situation. But she could tell that he was torn between choices and that it was tearing him up inside. “So… what do you plan to do? Are you still going to go to the dance with him?”

“I suppose there’s not much of a choice.” Danny sighed as he leaned his head back against the wall. “I promised to go with him. I can’t really back out now, can I?”

“Well, you could. It’s up to you whether you want to go or not. You could always tell him that you have to return to wherever you said you were from and that your parents won’t let you stay here any longer.”

“No, I should go.” Danny nodded like he was trying to convince himself more than Paulina.

“Well, if that’s the case.” Paulina stood. “I still think you’ll look absolutely adorable in this dress.” She held up the pink dress, grinning at Danny, who groaned at the dress.

“Why do you all love to force me into dresses?” Danny complained as he climbed to his feet. “If I try on the dress, will you at least leave the dressing room?”

Paulina glanced down at the tight jeans that Danny still wore before it hit her, and she blushed lightly. “Oh, yes, of course!” She slipped out of the dressing room.

Danny sighed as he stared at the dress. After hesitating for a moment, he unbuttoned the jeans and pulled them off before slipping into the dress. The odd sense of being naked even while clothed overcame him, and he hated that it felt strangely nice to have such smooth material surrounding his body. He caught his reflection in his mirror and wanted to smack himself for how he looked so much like a woman wearing the dress.

“Are you finished changing?” Paulina asked from the other side of the door.

Danny had the distinct feeling that Paulina was trying to find some way to peek inside the dressing room. He opened the door to find her kneeling on the ground in a pose that clearly proved his feeling correct. His brow went up, and Paulina laughed nervously. She quickly jumped to her feet and tried to act innocent.

“I knew it! You do look beautiful in that dress!” Paulina exclaimed, causing a few bystanders to glance at them. “You’re going to buy it, right?”

“I don’t know,” Danny mumbled, wrapping his arms around himself and feeling rather embarrassed with the stares directed at him. He would only wear the dress that one time then it would sit in his closet collecting dust. On the other hand, it would be a nice memento from that evening with Dash. He cursed himself for that thought.

“Fine. I’ll buy the dress for you.” Paulina turned Danny around and pushed him back into the dressing room. “When you finish changing, come up to the checkout counter with the dress.” After closing the door, Paulina headed to the checkout counter to pick up the dark red backless dress she already reserved for the dance. She was still surprised over the fact that Danny was “Danielle,” but in some weird way, it sort of made sense to her. “Danielle,” she snickered as she walked. “How can Dash be so blind?”


	12. Chapter 12

Devon quickly shoved the books he needed for school into his book bag. He hated being in the apartment when he knew that _thing_ was lurking around somewhere. Then it came. Right as he reached for the doorknob, that familiar feeling washed over him, that cold sensation freezing him to the bone and making it difficult to breathe.

“Have you completed your work yet?” the apparition asked in an eerie voice behind the man.

Devon spun around staring at the translucent being floating before him. It was a woman’s ghost with her skin an ivory white and her hair such a pale blonde that it nearly matched her skin in color. Her white gown billowed around her. She could have easily been confused with an angel if it weren’t for the almost demonic look in her glowing red eyes.

“Not yet.” Devon wished he could have escaped before she decided to make her appearance. “It takes time for the drug to take full effect. A few more injections should have him completely helpless. By the end of the week, you should be able to do whatever it is you want with him.”

“Excellent!” The spirit grinned as a hint of glee sparkled in her eyes. “Things are going just as I planned.”

“What exactly _are_ you planning to do to Danny?” Devon worried a little for the other man’s safety. He knew whatever the woman planned couldn’t be good, but despite not wanting anything bad to happen to Danny, Devon knew he had to follow the woman’s orders.

“That is not something you need to know,” the spirit replied, huffing at the man’s apparent belief that he actually mattered. “All you have to do is what I tell you to do.” An evil smirk crossed her face as she spun a small pearly ball between her hands. “Unless you'd rather not see that person ever again.”

Devon’s eyes narrowed, his lips thinning to form an angry line. “Of course I want to see him again!” he shouted, hands curling into tight fists. “I wouldn’t be doing this in the first place if I didn’t care about him!”

“Good. Then you know what you have to do. I want to put the next part of my plan into action by the end of the week, so make sure you finish your assignment.” Then in a swirl of white mist the spirit vanished. Warmth rushed back into Devon, and he released a heavy sigh, now able to breathe normally again.

_Cursed spirit!_ Devon thought angrily as he turned around, preparing to leave the apartment. _I wish I had never met you. Then I could be back home… with him_. Devon left the building as he headed off for school. Tears threatened to spill down his cheeks, memories of the past overwhelming him. He could remember that day clearly like it had only happened yesterday.

Devon entered the home like every other day, dumping his book bag in the hallway as he walked toward the kitchen where he knew he would find the owner of the house. A smile crossed his face, and he opened his mouth to greet the owner. But a chilly feeling overcame him upon entering the kitchen. He halted in his tracks, eyes sweeping over the empty room until they landed upon the woman’s ghost. Her smirk made his blood run cold, and the only words she spoke were, “If you wish to see him again, then you must do as I wish.”

Devon shook the memory from his mind. He had no choice but to follow the spirit’s orders. He didn’t understand why she chose him, but that didn’t seem to matter all that much. She possessed what was most precious to him, and for that reason alone, Devon would continue injecting Danny with the drug that she told him to how to make.

When he arrived at Casper High School, Devon walked through the hallways, seeking out his prey. The shorter man wasn’t hard to find. Danny leaned against his locker, alone with a distant look in his once brilliant blue eyes, an easy target. Devon approached Danny, undetected until he slammed his hands against the lockers near Danny’s head, which snapped up at the sudden noise.

“Devon!” Danny shouted in alarm, his eyes darting around for an escape.

“You know, I wasn’t having the best of mornings,” Devon said as he leaned in closer to the other man, “but things are beginning to look up now.” He smirked when Danny shrank against the lockers trying to distance himself from his tutor.

“Lancer is going to suspend you if you continue to harass me,” Danny told him as a look of panic crossed his face.

“I don’t see Lancer anywhere. Do you?” Devon lowered one hand, letting it slide down Danny’s neck, and he smirked more when the shorter man shuddered. In his mind, Devon was beating himself up for doing this. He hated acting this way, knew that person would be disappointed in him for acting this way, but it was necessary in order to complete his task. “So, I was thinking for our tutoring session tonight you could come over to my place.”

Danny swept the hall for some means of escape. Then he found his way out in the form of a tall, muscular, blond jock. “Dash!” he called, catching the jock’s attention. Devon froze upon hearing that name, and in that moment, Danny managed to slip under one arm and jog toward the jock. “I need to talk to you.”

“Get lost, Fentina!” Dash muttered as he turned to walk away, but Danny wouldn’t let him get away that easily.

“Dash, please!” Danny had to jog to keep up with the jock’s long strides, leaving behind Devon, who grumbled something about stupid blockheads. “I know things didn’t go all that well the other day, but I _really_ need your help with French.”

“Forget it, Fenton. Get someone else to tutor you.”

“There _isn’t_ anyone!” Danny grabbed Dash’s arm and forcing the jock to stop walking. “No one else can tutor me so that I can pass French by the end of the year. You’re the only capable of teaching me. It’s not easy for me to come to you like this and beg you, but I really need the help. I’ll do everything you say. Just, please, teach me.” Danny gave Dash the most pathetic, pleading face he could muster.

Dash glared at the shorter man before he released a sigh. “Fine. I’ll tutor you.” He pointed a finger in Danny’s face. “But you can’t complain about the way I teach. I’ll go over to your house after school, and I’ll stay as late as I feel is necessary. If you slack off, I’m going to push you harder.”

“O-Okay,” Danny stuttered, forcing a smile onto his face even as he wondered what he just got himself into.

Dash glanced down the hallway where he could still see Devon watching them. “I don’t trust that guy,” he muttered out loud.

Danny turned to look over his shoulder. “You’re not the only one.” The school bell rang, pulling Danny from his troubled thoughts. “Uh, I guess I’ll see you after school then.” He waved to Dash before hurrying off down the hallway to his first class of the day.

Dash sighed as he watched the shorter man jog away. Running a hand through his hair, he wondered why he agreed to tutor Danny. He didn’t want to spend time with the other man. He didn’t want any more strange thoughts entering his mind.

 

“For the rest of the period, please split into pairs and work on tonight’s assignment,” the teacher announced while rubbing her temple in frustration. Abner could blame the woman since she had to put up with a bunch of bubbly airheads who couldn’t seem to grasp anything the teacher told them. But Abner was quickly jolted out of such thoughts when he noticed someone sat down beside him. He glanced over to find Kwan at his side, feeling just as shocked as every other student in the class.

“Kwan, what are you doing?” Abner wanted to disappear at that moment since people were staring and whispering.

“Choosing you as a study partner,” Kwan answered simply. “What does it look like I’m doing?” He looked genuinely confused by the question.

“But you never choose someone like me for a study partner!”

“Aren’t I allowed to choose who I want to study with?” Kwan moved his chair even closer to Abner. “Besides,” he lowered his voice, “I wanted to talk about Dash and Fenton.”

Abner blinked a few time then shook his head. Of course that was the reason for Kwan to pick him. “What about them?”

“Well, I finally cornered Dash and showed him the picture,” Kwan explained, “but he wouldn’t give me any real information. He just got all angry and stormed off.” He reached into his pocket to retrieve the photo and laid it out on the desk before them. “You know, the more I look at this, the more I wonder about things.”

“What things?” Abner’s brow creased in confusion, though a voice in the back of his mind was praying the jock wasn’t smart enough to put two and two together.

“Well, don’t you think it’s a little odd?” Kwan reached up to scratch the back his head. “Dash claims to hate Fenton. Yet who does he start having a major crush on? A woman named Danielle, which is the female version of Fenton’s name. Throw in the blue eyes and black hair, same height, and nearly similar build, and this woman is almost a female version of Fenton. I mean, she could be, like, his twin!”

“I think you’re reading too much into something that’s not even there.” Abner placed a hand on the photo and started to pull it toward him when Kwan suddenly caught his hand.

“Think about it, Abner! Looking at this photo, how can you not see the resemblance between Danielle and Fenton?” Kwan moved Abner’s hand away from the photo. “Look at Fenton there.” He pointed to the little eight year old Danny wearing a black dress. “If I didn’t any better, I would have thought that _was_ Danielle.”

Abner glanced at Kwan when the jock stopped talking. A sense of dread washed over him as his heart dropped into his gut. Slowly, the light flickered on in Kwan’s mind. His mouth dropped open as realization hit him square in the face. He turned to Abner and could tell by the look on the man’s face that he was right without even needing to ask the question.

“Do you even know how fucking pissed Dash is going to be about this?” Kwan whispered heatedly.

“Please don’t say anything,” Abner begged. “Danny didn’t want anything like this to happen. He was only trying to get away from Devon because Devon was, like, stalking him and he couldn’t go anywhere. So Sam thought that if he dressed in drag, Devon wouldn’t notice him, and Danny could go places without being stalked by that guy. But then Danny bumped into Dash at the movies. He’s been trying to get out of this. He told Dash that ‘Danielle’ had to go back to her home, but Dash just keeps making him continue with the charade despite how much he’s trying to end it.”

Kwan took a moment to digest Abner’s rambles. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “So to avoid a little stalking, Fenton’s playing around with my best friend’s emotions?”

Abner frowned as he glared at the jock. “It’s always about you people, isn’t it?” He stood up, grabbing his books as he did so. Then he stormed out of the room, ignoring the teacher’s shouts about class not being over. He didn’t even notice that Kwan had followed him.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Kwan grabbed the man’s hand and yanked it until Abner stumbled back into him.

“Let go of me!” Abner struggled to get away, but Kwan wrapped his arms around the shorter man’s waist. “Damn it! Let me go!”

“Will you calm down?” Kwan squeezed his arms, making Abner gasp as the air was forced out of his lungs. “Now explain to me what you meant!”

“Why is everything always about the jocks? You think Dash is the only one getting hurt in this situation?” Abner dropped his books so he could scratch at Kwan’s arms in an attempt to get free. “This isn’t all sunshine and puppy dog tails for Danny, you know. The whole thing has him questioning himself.”

“What do you mean by questioning himself?” Kwan loosened his hold so that Abner could breathe a little easier.

“He hasn’t come out and said anything to me about it.” Abner sighed, still trying to pull the muscular arms from around his waist. “I mean, it’s not like I’m his bestest best friend, not like Sam and Tucker. But it’s not hard to see when you know what to look for.”

“Could you be a little less cryptic? Just come out and say it.”

“I think Danny’s developing feelings for Dash,” Abner whispered so softly that the jock nearly missed it.

Stunned, Kwan released the man, who tumbled forward and almost met with the floor. “Oh, that’s just perfect. That’ll just make Dash even angrier.”

“Well, it’s not Danny’s fault,” Abner grumbled as he gathered his books. “It’s not like Danny even wanted to do the whole cross dressing thing in the first place. He was only trying to get away from Devon. Dash is the one who’s been making him continue with the charade.”

“Dash didn’t make Fenton do anything. Fenton could have stopped this whole thing whenever he wanted.”

“He was afraid Dash would start beating him up again after ‘Danielle’ left.” Abner stood up straight, staring at the jock before he sighed. “Look. Could you just keep it a secret? I think Danny might finally end the charade after the dance.”

A frown settled onto Kwan’s face. He didn’t like the idea of keeping such a secret from his best friend. When he looked at Abner, he found the man giving him such a pleading look that he found it hard to even think about saying no. He released a long breath. “All right. I won’t say anything. But you realize this is probably going to backfire in the worst way, right?”

“If it does, it’s because you jinxed it by saying that.” Abner stuck his tongue out at the jock before turning down the hallway. Kwan shook his head when he heard the bell ring throughout the school and turned to head to his next class.

 

Danny reviewed the page again for about the fiftieth time, trying to figure out how to translate the sentences that Dash gave him. He scratched the back of his head in frustration. Meanwhile, Dash sat beside him on the bed, leaning back on his arms as he waited for the other man to finish the assignment.

“It’s not that hard, Fenton.” Dash rolled his head to the side. “Perhaps if you had actually gone to class last year, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

Danny stopped scanning the page and turned to glare at Dash. “I had something important to do last year.”

“Yeah, I’m sure it was way more important than passing your classes so that you can actually graduate.” Dash sat up, leaning toward Danny until their foreheads nearly bumped into each other. “Do you really want to be held back?”

“Like you would even understand everything I have to deal with,” Danny grumbled, turning back to the textbook. He tried to ignore the fact that Dash still leaned over him, causing his gut to twist in that weird way it had when the jock kissed him. He fought back a blush and the wish that Dash _would_ kiss him again.

“Oh, because you’re just so different from the rest of us.” Dash rolled his eyes.

Danny’s hands tightened around the textbook, wanting more than anything to prove to Dash that he was different from everyone else. He turned back to Dash, knocking their heads together.

“What the hell, Fenton?” Dash shouted as they both turned away, holding their aching heads. “You’re such a klutz!”

Before Danny could think of a comeback, a knock sounded it at the door. Still holding his head, he stood and opened it. “Vlad?” Danny stared at the man, blinking in shock. “What do you want?”

“Who’s that, Fentonio?” Dash walked over to the two men.

“Ah, you must be Mr. Baxter.” Vlad looked the jock over from head to toe. “Vlad Masters. I’m a friend of Daniel’s parents.” He placed a hand on Danny’s head, rustling the man’s dark hair.

“Masters?” A thoughtful expression crossed Dash’s face, and it suddenly hit Danny to where the gears in the jock’s mind were working.

“Uh, Vlad, how’s your daughter doing? I haven’t seen her in years,” Danny said quickly.

Vlad stared down at the younger half ghost for a moment before it clicked. “Oh! You mean Danielle? I’m surprised you haven’t seen her. She’s been visiting her cousin here.”

“So, Mr. Masters, a-are you taking Danielle back to Wisconsin soon?” Dash asked.

“Yes, she has to get back to school, so we’ll be leaving this weekend.” Vlad turned to Danny. “However, at the moment, I need to speak with Daniel. You don’t mind if I cut your study session short, do you?”

“Uh, no, Sir. We can always get together tomorrow to study,” Dash said politely, and Danny rolled his eyes at the way he was sucking up to “Danielle’s father.” Before he left the room, Dash sent the man a look that clearly said he was going to work Danny even harder tomorrow.

Once he was sure the jock was gone, Vlad turned his attention to Danny. “I thought you might like a little update on your current situation.” He shut the door.

“So what have you found out?” Danny moved back to his bed to sit on it.

“First of all, I’ve never seen anything like the stuff that has been injected into you,” Vlad said as he leaned against the wall. “When the chemicals from the injections mix with your blood, it - I don’t know how else to say this. It basically reverts your DNA back to a normal human.”

“So you’re saying that I’m just a regular person now?” Panic rose inside Danny. He didn’t want to be normal again. He didn’t want to lose his ghost powers.

“You’re really close to being a normal human. I think after a few more injections it’ll take full effect.” Vlad reached into his pocket to retrieve something. “I haven’t found a way to reverse this, yet. Trust me. I will find a way to reverse it. For now, this is all I have.” He tossed a small bottle to Danny, who fumbled to catch it.

“What is it?” Danny glanced at the bottle before staring at Vlad as a confused expression crossed his face.

“Pills. Take one, and it’ll temporarily reverse the effects of the injections. However, only take them when your ghost powers are actually needed. After you take one, it’ll drain a lot out of you, and you won’t be able to take another pill for about a week.” Vlad gave Danny a stern look. “And don’t even think about taking more than one thinking it’ll boost your power. Taking more than one pill could possibly kill you.”

“I - I don’t know why you’re helping me so much.” Danny stared at the bottle of pills then he raised his head. “But thank you.”


	13. Chapter 13

Danny sighed as he dropped into the seat at the table in the back of the library. “Why did I have to meet you here so early?” he asked the man sitting next to him. He glared at his tutor as he held back a yawn. For him, it was far too early to be awake and at school.

Devon shrugged as he stared at the man, who grew frustrated at the lack of a response. He smirked at that and decided to speak before Danny could yell at him. “You certainly aren’t a morning person.” His smirked falter as he fell into a more serious mood. “Danny, there’s-” He caught himself and turned away to reach into his book bag.

“There’s what?” Danny yawned, wishing he could be back in bed, getting a few more minutes of sleep. He most certainly didn’t want to be at school with Devon, alone, with no witnesses to see the man inject him with that stuff that was turning him back into a human.

“There’s a lot you need to review for class.” Devon dropped the math text book onto the table between them. He opened it to the next section they were going over and shoved it toward the other man.

Danny sighed as he dropped his gaze to the book. His eyes scanned over the page, and soon, they glazed over like they did all the other times. Devon poked the other teenager’s arm and received no response.

“I really hating doing this,” Devon muttered before he reached into his book bag for the syringe. Placing it to the crook of Danny’s arm, he pierced the flesh and pushed down the plunger. Devon stared at the man sitting there looking innocent of all sin, and he wondered why the spirit seemed so determined to seek revenge on Danny. What could Danny have possibly done to her? Sighing, Devon removed the needle from the man’s arm and quickly stored the syringe back in his bag. “At least this was the last time.” He snapped his fingers.

Danny jerked out of the trance, blinking rapidly. “Um, what were you saying?” he asked in a small voice, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. Somewhere in the back his mind, he slowly realized that these blackouts must be when Devon injected him with that stuff. He glanced at his tutor, who started to explain the equation for the problems he was supposed to be reviewing.

Devon glanced at his watch. “I just remembered that I have someplace I'm supposed to be.” He looked up to Danny and tried to look apologetic. “You’ll have to forgive me for running off on you. I think you can handle the last of these problems by yourself.” He stood up, slinging his book bag over one shoulder.

“Uh, but I…” Danny trailed off, frowning as he watched Devon leave. “I didn’t understand how you told me to do the problem.” He frowned, staring helplessly at the book before him as he scratched at the crook of his arm in irritation.

Devon walked as fast as he could away from the library, wanting to get as far away from Danny as physically possible. He felt disgusted with what he did to the other man. As he turned the corner down another empty hallway, coldness gripped him, and he came to a halt, his body trembling.

“Is it complete?” asked the spirit from behind the man.

Devon turned around to face her, struggling to squash the terror within him. “It is,” he said through clenched teeth. “Now give him back to me! Give me back my Dedrick!”

The spirit threw out her arm and the small pearly ball appeared in her other hand. “I suppose I did promise you. Didn’t I?” A smirk slid across her face as the pearly substance that seemed to fill the glass ball swirled around inside it.

“That wasn’t the promise!” Devon backed away from the spirit. “You said you would release him!”

“No, I believe I only promised that you would see him again. I never said anything about releasing him.” The spirit’s smirk grew wider, and the pearly substance swirled faster. Devon turned on his heel to sprint down the hallway. But after only one step, he tripped and fell to the floor. Glancing over his shoulder, Devon’s eyes widened before he was enveloped in darkness.

 

“I’m so glad the day is finally over,” Danny said to his friends. He felt more sluggish than usual, his body feeling heavier, and all he wanted to do was go home and collapse in his bed.

“Dude, I didn’t know she was coming to our dance,” Tucker said, completely ignoring Danny as he stared at the new poster for the dance that was now lining the hallways.

“Great. So we have to listen to horrible music while we dance,” Sam muttered.

Danny looked up and read over the poster a few times before he realized what exactly his friends were talking about. “Ember? Ember is playing at the dance?” Danny tried to wrap his mind around this new information, but he couldn’t seem to understand it. Why would Ember disobey the laws that Skulker and Vlad laid out for the ghosts to follow? She wasn’t supposed to be outside the Ghost Zone!

“Isn’t it obvious? She’s probably going to try to use us to chant her name again for power,” Sam said. “She did it before. She had everyone obsess over her and our shouting her name gave her power. Then she used our parents to power that kid pirate’s ship.”

“I know that, Sam,” Danny said, slightly annoyed. “But this just doesn’t make sense. Why would Ember play at our dance?”

“Let’s just say Paulina’s got connections,” someone said from behind them, making the trio of friends spin around, Danny nearly tripping over his feet. Kwan grinned at them, though his gaze stayed on Danny the longest. “Paulina talked to Ember’s manager and convinced him to get her to play at our dance. She was very excited about this since she’s a huge fan of Ember.”

“Of course she is,” Sam grumbled as she folded her arms and glared at Kwan. “What do you want?”

“Paulina wanted me to tell Fenton that she expects him to be at her house by five on Friday.” Kwan grinned at Danny, who paled at that announcement.

“She told you, didn’t she?” Danny dreaded the answer.

“Nope. I figured it out with a little help from Abner, but that’s not the point.” Kwan sighed as he scratched the back of his head. “Dash will be really pissed off if he ever finds out that he’s been dating you all along.”

“I know that!” Danny frowned as a sad look entered his eyes. “I’ve known that from the beginning. It’s just… hard to say no to Dash.”

“Well, you’re going to have to break it off with him before he breaks something off you.” Kwan winced when he realized that didn’t come out all that nice. “Look. I don’t hate you. You’re a really nice guy and all. And I really wish Dash would grow up and get over that little thing that happened between you, but he doesn’t seem to be able to let it go. If you continue this and he finds out, it’ll only piss him off more. I just want to stop this before it explodes into chaos.”

“Um, thanks, I think, for your concern and all, Kwan.” Danny wasn't entirely sure he understood everything that the jock said. “What little thing that happened between Dash and me?” His brow creased in confusion.

“Are you still going on about that?” someone demanded from behind them, and Danny froze, recognizing it as Dash’s voice. “I thought I told you to drop it already.”

“You know me, Dash.” Kwan grinned impishly at his team mate. “I never drop anything.” His grin faltered at Dash’s glare. “Well, anyway, I must be going.” Kwan folded his arms behind his head as he walked away.

Danny turned around to face the blond jock. “So what do you want, Dash?” He hoped Dash would let him off from tutoring.

“Why else would I be here?” Dash snapped his head toward Danny and glared at the shorter man. “Obviously, I’m here to tutor you.”

Danny sighed. “Oh, right. I guess we should go do that.” He turned back to his friends. “I’ll see you guys around later.” He waved to them before following Dash down the hallway.

“Danny just isn’t getting a break from his bullies,” Tucker said, watching his friend. “First, Devon calls him out early this morning, and now, Dash drags him away.”

“I can’t believe he’s going over to Paulina’s house to get ready for the dance,” Sam said angrily, completely ignoring Tucker. “After all the hard work Abner and I put in, and I was the one who thought up this whole thing. I swear if she puts him in one of her ugly pink dresses, I’ll-”

“Sam, be happy that she’s at least keeping his secret safe from Dash,” Tucker reminded her, and Sam seemed to calm down a little. “Come on. You need to help me pick out a tux or whatever.”

“Fine,” Sam grumbled as she followed Tucker down another hallway. “But I swear if Paulina even dares to put Danny in an ugly pink dress, there will be hell to pay.”

“Because Danny in a dress isn’t already damaging to his image?” Tucker inquired. _Or to his mental state_ , he added to himself.

“But he just looks good in a dress.” Sam frowned and glanced at her other friend. “Does that make me weird? That I think Danny looks good in a dress?”

“Well, I don’t know. He does look good in drag.” Tucker frowned as well. “I think I’m over the shock of Danny falling in love with a guy now. I still can’t believe the guy is Dash though.” Sam nodded her agreement to that. No matter how they looked at him, Dash couldn’t be seen as anything but a bully and a jerk.

The week passed quickly, in Danny’s mind anyway. Outside of school, either Dash or Kwan was dragging him off for tutoring. He didn't see much of Sam and Tucker except during lunch, and even then, he was concentrating too much on his studies to even eat. In a way, that was probably for the best because Sam kept complaining about Paulina and pink dresses.

It wasn’t until Danny was putting his math text book into his locker after school on Friday that he came to a realization. “Where’s Devon?” Danny asked, turning to his friends. His brow creased in confusion as he tried to remember if he saw the new student after their early morning tutoring session at the beginning of the week.

“Now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seen him at all this week,” Sam said, frowning, but at least it distracted from her current rant about Paulina.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Tucker asked. “I mean, you wanted him to leave you alone, and now he is.”

“Yeah, but,” Danny said then sighed as he leaned against his locker. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Hey, guys!” Abner greeted, skipping up to the trio and making Danny fall silent. He blinked at them. “Um, did I interrupt something?”

“No, not at all,” Danny replied. “I was just saying goodbye. I want to go home and shower and stuff before I go over to Pualina’s.”

“Oh, right, the dance is tonight.” Abner nodded, looking like he only now remembered about the dance.

“Are you going with anyone, Abner?” Sam asked, and Danny felt a little relieved to have missed his chance to tell his friends about Devon.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, just a friend from work.” Abner shrugged. “He was all excited about it when I brought it up so I asked if he wanted to go with me since no one from here was going to ask me. Usually I would just skip the dance.”

“Aw! Well, at least the guy from your work was nice enough to go with you.” Sam seemed to remember something at that moment as she gave a little gasp. “Do you still have those black high heels?”

“Oh, you mean the ones-” Abner started to say but Sam cut him off with a “Yeah, those!” He tapped his chin as he thought about it. “I think I still have those. We could go over to my place and look for them.”

“I’ll see you guys later.” Sam waved to her friends as she walked off with Abner.

“So who are you going to the dance with?” Danny asked Tucker.

“Sam, actually.” Tucker left his friend gaping at him as he headed for the parking lot.

“What?” Danny got over his shock and chased after his friend. “But Sam has a boyfriend.”

“Not anymore. They broke up.” Tucker glanced at Danny, who finally caught up with him. “If I didn’t know who you were already crushing on, I might think you were jealous.”

“Dude, Sam is like a sister to me.” Danny glared at his friend. “But why doesn’t she ever tell me about these things? She didn’t tell me she had a boyfriend. She didn’t tell me she broke up with him. And she didn’t tell me the two of you are going to the dance together. Why am I so out of the loop? And I thought we all agreed that dating outside of our group was for the best?” He wasn't sure why the last point mattered when he was having feelings toward a man.

“It’s because you’re so busy, fighting ghosts, studying, cross dressing to date Dash,” Tucker said, ticking off each item on his fingers as he listed them. He shrugged at the last question. "We're not dating. We're going to the dance as just friends."

“I’m not doing it because I want to,” Danny growled. “I just-” He shook his head as he sighed. “It doesn’t matter. It’s ending tonight after the dance. I’m not dragging this on any longer.”

“So tell me.” Tucker grinned. “Did Paulina pick out a pink dress for you to wear?” The blush on Danny’s face was enough of an answer for him.


	14. Chapter 14

“Why are you so nervous?” Kwan straightened his bowtie of his plain black tux that he decided on after searching a few stores for something better. But he didn’t think any of the other tuxes looked good on him.

“I’ve never gone to a dance with a girl I really like,” Dash replied, running a comb through his hair. He checked his reflection in the mirror to make sure every strand of hair was perfectly in place. “I usually just ask random girls until one agrees to go with me. And I’ve never actually danced at one of these. What if I step on her feet?”

Kwan chuckled at that comment. “I’ve never seen you act this way about a girl.” He received a glare from Dash. “But don’t you think you’re rushing things with Danielle?” Kwan wanted to tell his friend the truth about the whole situation, but he promised Abner that he wouldn’t say anything.

“What are you talking about?” Dash stared at his friend. “I’m not rushing into anything.”

“Yes, you are.” Kwan rolled his eyes at the angry look Dash gave him. “You met her once and fell head over heels in love with her. You don’t think that’s rushing?”

“I can’t help who I fall in love with.” Dash shrugged as he slipped his feet into the nice white shoes that went with his white tux.

“But it’s strange that you would fall for someone like her,” Kwan mumbled before leaving the bedroom.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Dash demanded as he chased after his friend.

“I just mean that it’s strange that you would choose someone with similar looks to a certain loser we know.” Kwan shrugged as they reached the bottom of the stairs. He opened the front door and held it open for Dash. “So do we pick the ladies up now?”

“Danielle looks nothing like Fenton!” Dash growled. “Take that back!”

“Oh, fine. They look nothing alike.” Kwan sighed tiredly. _He’s completely blind, isn’t he?_ “Shall we go pick up our dates now?”

“Paulina said she would drive her and Danielle to the dance, so we’re meeting them there.” Dash walked out the front door with a smug look on his face, obviously proud of making Kwan retract his comment. “So why are you and Paulina going to the dance together?”

“We didn't have anyone else to ask.” Kwan shrugged before climbing into Dash’s car.

 

“I’m going to break my neck in these things!” Danny complained as he wobbled after Paulina through the parking lot near Casper High’s gym and tried not to trip on his dress. “And they hurt like hell!”

“It’s not my fault your feet are so much bigger than my feet.” Paulina walked without any trouble in her high heels, which happened to be too small for her feet as well, but she had more experience with that kind of pain. “Just try to ignore it.”

“Easy for you to say,” Danny muttered as he finally caught up to Paulina. “So how did you manage to get Ember to play at the dance?”

“I simply spoke to her manager, and after much begging on my part, he finally agreed.” Paulina smiled triumphantly at her success.

“As far as I know, Ember doesn’t have a manager. Who exactly did you speak to?” Danny still couldn't figure out how Ember escaped from the Ghost Zone.

Paulina reached into her purse and retrieved a business card that she then handed to the man.

Danny looked it over then he snorted as he glared at the little green ghost logo on the card. “Spook Records? Oh, what a clever name, Vlad.” Danny rolled his eyes as he handed the card back to Paulina. “Why, Paulina, did you want Ember to play at our dance?”

Paulina put the card back inside her black purse. “Why not? She’s an awesome musician and singer. Why are you so against having her here?”

“Because she’s-”

“When Vlad told me you were cross dressing, I didn’t think it was true,” someone said, making Danny freeze as the ghost approached them. Ember stopped before the two teenagers, grinning at Danny.

“Why did Vlad agree to let you play at the dance?” Danny demanded as he folded his arms and glared at the ghost, not noticing the surprised look on Paulina’s face. “And why are you-” he started to ask, noticing Ember looked like a regular human.

“Skulker lent it to me,” Ember said, and Danny understood “it” to mean the device that allowed Skulker to have a human body. “And Vlad wanted someone here to keep an eye on you.”

“He does realize I’m capable of handling things on my own, right?” Danny grumbled until he felt a jab in his ribs. He glanced over to see Paulina with an imploring look upon her face. “Oh, right. Ember, this is a friend of mine, Paulina.”

“I’m so happy to finally meet you,” Paulina said as she reached out to shake Ember’s hand.

“Paulina, huh?” Ember shook the girl’s hand. “I think I remember you.” Her attention shifted back to Danny. “You can run off and find your guy now. Just remember that I’ll be watching you.”

Sighing, Danny walked toward the gym. He didn't like the idea of having Ember babysit him on Vlad's order. But since he couldn't really sense ghosts at the moment, it was probably best to have another ghost around, as much as he hated to admit the need for that. Opening the gym’s door, Danny stepped inside with a sense of uneasiness as the other occupants glanced over at him. Some of them turned to whisper to their friends, and Danny wished he could disappear.

“Danielle!” The shout made Danny jump, his heart nearly beating out of his chest. When Danny turned around, Abner grinned at him. At his side, a tall, skinny man stood with his back to them as he scanned the crowd.

“You didn’t dress up?” Danny's brow creased when he saw Abner came to the dance wearing a sleeveless black hoodie with the image of a cartoon skull on the front and a nice pair of gray slacks. Abner’s friend, on the other hand, dressed in an outfit that looked like something that men in old England would wear, though it seemed to suit the man oddly well.

“I don’t have any tuxes to wear,” Abner explained.

“I offered to let you wear one of mine,” said the man with Abner.

“They were too big for me.” Abner glared at his friend. “And anyway, I didn’t really feel like exposing my cross dressing habits to the school, especially with Dash here.”

“Oh, right.” Danny winced a little when he recalled what Abner had told him. “I guess it’s best that you didn’t come as a girl.”

“Yeah, and especially since he’s coming over here.” A nervous expression crossed Abner’s face as he looked like he wanted to sink into the floor to avoid any confrontation with the jock. Danny turned around right as Dash reached them along with Kwan.

“Hey, Danielle,” greeted Dash as he smiled at his date. He noticed Abner, and his smile faltered. “Why don’t we go get some punch?” He wrapped his arm around Danny’s shoulders and led him over to the table with the punch bowl.

“Dash is completely blind to not see that he’s dating Fenton,” Kwan said to Abner once Dash was out of hearing range.

“Right.” Abner frowned as he watched Danny disappear into the crowd with Dash. “Shouldn’t you be looking for your date? You were supposed to be coming here with Paulina, right?”

Kwan shrugged. “We only came together because we didn't have anyone else to ask.” He knew Paulina could have come with any number of guys. Plenty of men asked her to be their date, but Paulina apparently didn't want to say yes to some random guy. He was pretty sure that Paulina only came to the dance because she helped in organizing everything. When he turned to Abner, Kwan held back any other comment when the tall, skinny man placed an arm around Abner’s waist. He blinked at the pair, suddenly at a loss for words.

“I guess I should make with the introductions.” Abner laughed nervously.

“The name’s Dil,” said the tall man as he held out a hand for Kwan to shake, but the jock only stared at him.

“Dil?” Kwan spoke slowly, his gaze remaining on the tall man before turning to Abner.

“Abs and I work together,” Dil explained as his gaze swept over the crowd and landed on the some random point. “And you’ll have to excuse me.” He walked off, and the two men watched him go.

“Um, is he approaching Lancer?” Kwan asked, puzzled and dumbfounded by the man.

Abner laughed. “Lancer looks so confused and freaked out!”

“I accept that that man is gay. But why would he hit on Lancer, who is years older than he?” The idea of anyone hitting on Lancer seemed a little disturbing to Kwan.

“Dil's thirty-two,” Abner told him, “and Lancer’s only, like, thirty-three. So the age thing isn’t that big of a deal. And Dil’s always had weird taste in men.” He glanced back to where his friend was. “Ow!” He winced when he saw a woman smack Dil over the head with a purse. “I so wouldn’t have thought that Lancer had a girlfriend.”

“I don’t think anyone would have expected that.” Kwan laughed a little as he watched the woman continue to smack Dil, who was attempting to run away from her.

Abner watched Kwan out of the corner of his eye. “So,” he said slowly, “you really didn't have anyone to ask?”

Kwan frowned. “I had girls ask me, but I didn't want to come with anyone of them.” He shrugged, knowing it sounded lame, but it was true. He would have stayed home if Dash didn't pester him about coming and Paulina didn't beg him to be her date. Raking a hand through his hair, he wondered if it was too early to duck out of the dance.

"Guess we're kind of in the same boat." Abner’s gaze drifted around the gym at all the couples around the floor. “I pretty much only came because of Danny.” They stood off to the side of the gym in awkward silence, neither one having anything else to do as two dateless men.

 

“You look really nice in that dress,” Dash said, nervousness obvious in his voice as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks.

Danny tried but couldn’t stop his own blush. “Th-Thank you,” he stuttered, unable to look at Dash as he brushed a stray lock of hair behind his ear. That was when Dash noticed the pink jeweled butterfly hair clips that Danny wore.

“Aren’t those Paulina’s clips?” Dash recalled his friend wearing them some time ago. Danny only nodded in response. “They look much better on you.”

Danny blushed darker and looked up to smile at the jock. But his smile faltered a little as he remembered what he would have to do. “Dash, I-”

“Oh, they’ve started playing the music,” Dash said when he noticed the band take the stage.

Danny turned to the stage to see Ember grabbing hold of microphone before she started shouting at the crowd and receiving a loud response from everyone attending the dance. Dash grabbed his hand and led him onto the dance area.

“I’m not very good at dancing,” Dash admitted. “So you’ll have to forgive me if I accidentally step on your feet.”

Danny held his breath when Dash drew him closer. The song playing wasn’t really a slow song, but Dash didn’t seem to care about that fact as he held his date close. Danny released his breath slowly, yelling at himself to relax more. He wrapped his arms around Dash’s neck. As they danced, Danny kept feeling his nerves growing. Why was breaking it off with Dash so difficult? It wasn't like any of it was real. Dash only liked him because he thought Danny was a girl. That thought made Danny depressed.

“Dan-Danielle,” Dash stuttered, and Danny snapped out of his thoughts to look at the jock. “I was thinking since long distance relationships don’t usually work all that well, that I could go to a college in Wisconsin then we could be near each other.”

Danny gaped at Dash, shocked that the jock would do something like that. “But – But I wouldn’t want you to choose a college just because it’s close to where I live. You should choose one that you like.”

“Yeah, but I want-” Dash’s words were cut off as a loud shriek echoed through the gym. Every head in the gym turned, and there, floating over the exit of the gym was an unfamiliar ghost. Screams filled the gym as everyone attempted to run away.

“Of all the times,” Danny muttered, glaring at the ghost.

A musical chord rang out so loud that the gym’s windows rattled. Danny glanced over his shoulder as huge notes soared through the air toward the ghost. When he turned back, he found that the new ghost vanished. He looked around the gym, finding that most people escaped already. Ember stood on the stage, also looking around for the ghost. Tucker and Sam stood in one corner of the gym while Abner and Kwan stood in another, and Paulina remained by the exit, looking pale and terrified.

“Ember, can you sense where it is?” Danny shouted, still scanning the gym.

“Danielle, what’s going on?” Dash asked as he grabbed the man’s upper arm and spun him around.

“Not now, Dash!” Danny tore his arm out of the jock’s hold.

“Danny, above you!” Multiple voices shouted at once, and both Dash and Danny snapped their gazes up to see a giant sphere descending upon them. Danny pushed Dash away at the same time that Dash tried to push him. In the standstill of trying to rescue the other, they were both swallowed by the sphere and thrown into darkness.

“Shit!” Ember exclaimed as she jumped off the stage, running toward the giant sphere that was now quickly diminishing in size. Before she could reach it, a blast of ectoplasm hit her, sending her flying into the wall. She hit it hard and landed on the floor with a loud thud. “I gotta get Vlad,” Ember muttered as she tried to sit up, holding a hand to her head. She flew through the wall, hoping that she wouldn't be too late in getting help.

“What should we do?” Sam whispered to Tucker as they observed things from a far. Neither of them thought to bring ghost hunting equipment, so they had no way to fight the ghost with Danny now gone.

“Danny was sucked into that ball thingy, right?” Tucker asked, pointing at the sphere sitting in the center of the gym where Danny and Dash disappeared. “Maybe if we break it, it’ll release him.”

“Or it could kill him!” Sam snapped. “Maybe we should get his parents.”

“Oh, that’ll go well.” Tucker’s sarcasm received a glare from Sam.

“What the hell is going on?” Kwan demanded, having crossed the gym to where the two stood. Abner stood behind him, looking rather shook up by the events. Paulina also joined them after getting over her shook and fear from the ghost's sudden appearance. Sam and Tucker glanced at each, neither sure if they should say anything.

 

Danny woke to someone shaking him. His eyes parted and met with the sight of bones beneath him, which explained why he felt so uncomfortable. He sat up slowly and discovered that the bones stretched for miles. He blinked then rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was dreaming. “What is this place?” he wondered out loud.

“That’s what I want to know,” said someone in a grumpy voice from behind him, making Danny jump.

“D-Dash!” Danny stared at the jock, who glared at him. “Why are you here? I was trying to save you, you dumb ass!”

“Why do you insist on making a fool of me?” Dash shouted as anger danced in his eyes. “Do you enjoy doing this to me? Do enjoy fucking around with my emotions, Fenton?”

Danny gasped at being discovered. But his shock quickly switched to anger. “I wasn’t trying to fuck with your emotions. You’re the one who wouldn’t leave me alone. And I have more important matters to deal with right now.” Danny stood and stomped off, but his ankle twisted under him, causing him to fall face first into the mound of bones.

“You’re such a klutz,” Dash muttered as he remained where he stood.

“Thanks for your concern.” Danny sat up and pulled off the high heels, sighing in relief. When he stood up, he winced at the pain that surged through his ankle. “Shit! This is bad.” He glanced around for some way out of wherever they were, but he found nothing.

“So how are you going to get us out of this?” Dash questioned after a while, not looking at Danny.

“You could help me, you know!” Danny glared at the jock before he limped away. He thought that he might have better luck finding a way out if he looked elsewhere.

Dash stood where he was, glaring at the white mist that clouded the sky above them. He stood for a long while, debating what he should do. Eventually, he gave in and followed after Danny despite how much he hated the other man at the moment. “So do you think the way out is this way?”

“I really don’t know,” Danny snapped, not caring if he was acting civilized or not. “I don’t even know who the hell that ghost was.”

“Ghost?” Dash stopped in his tracks and stared at the other man. “Why is it you’re never afraid of the ghosts that attack us?”

“Because there’s nothing to be afraid of. Are you going to help me find a way out or not?”

“There is no way out,” someone said, followed by a laugh of someone trying to ease their fear. Dash and Danny walked around a mound of bones to find Devon sitting there with his knees drawn to his chest.

“Devon!” Danny gaped at his former tutor. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m so sorry,” Devon mumbled, rocking his body as he hugged something to his chest. It took Danny a moment to realize it was a skull. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“Devon, what the hell is going on?” Danny demanded.

Devon lifted his head, his cheeks streaked with tears and his eyes bloodshot. “I only wanted to see him, to have him by my side again. I wanted my Dedrick back. But I couldn’t see him again unless I made you human.” Devon laughed, a hysterical laugh that chilled Danny to the core of his being. “I didn’t know that I would be put in here too. I thought she would release him, but she lied to me. She never intended to release him. And now he’s gone. Just like the others. Just like we’ll be.”

“Who? Who is responsible for this?” Danny shouted.

“Um, excuse me,” Dash said, cutting into the conversation. “What did he mean by make you human?”

“Dash, just butt out of this,” Danny growled before turning his attention back to Devon. “Tell me who did this already!”

“Ghosts can’t enter this world,” Devon said, his gaze focusing on Dash. “In order to trap Danny in here, he had to be made human again. After enough injections of a special serum, Danny would lose all of his ghost powers.”

Danny snapped his head around to see the jock’s reaction. The expression of fear and disbelief on Dash’s face made Danny wish he died that day instead of being caught between life and death. He tore his gaze from Dash, willing away the tears that wanted to escape his eyes. “Who told you to do this?”

“She called herself Daeva. Other than that, I know nothing about her,” Devon answered.

“Daeva?” Danny blinked. “I think I’ve heard that name before.” He turned from Devon and looked around at their surroundings before lifting his gaze to the sky. “I think I have to break us out of here.” His statement caused both of the men to turn their gazes to him in shock.

“How? You don’t have any powers!” Devon gaped at Danny, dumbfounded by the suggestion.

“Never go anywhere without being prepared for battle,” Danny muttered. “I guess Vlad was expecting me to end up in a situation like this.” He sighed as he reached under the skirt of his dress and retrieved the vial of pills that he strapped to his thigh. He dumped one of the pills into his hand and stared at it for a long moment. With a sigh, he popped it into his mouth. Immediately after he swallowed it, Danny felt his powers surging through his body, and the familiar rings of light appeared around him. His transformation took seconds, and he stood there, glaring at the sky above them through glowing green eyes. He ignored the crash of the tumbling mound of bones caused by Dash jumping back and tripping over his feet.

Danny raised his hands to the sky and concentrated all his energy into a blast. Green ectoplasm streamed through the sky, exploding against the top of the sphere’s world, but it was too weak to do much damage. Cursing under his breath, Danny glared at his hands with green mist rising off them.

“What the hell was that?” Dash growled. “How do you expect to get us out of here with that weak attack?”

“Shut up! I’m stronger than that.” Danny threw another blast and another, but none of them worked. He ground his teeth, feeling frustrated with his failure. “I know I’m stronger. I know I can break this sphere.”

“Pfft! Yeah, right.” Dash snorted at the half ghost. “I’ll believe that when pigs fly.”

“If you've ever been to the Ghost Zone, you wouldn’t use that phrase,” Danny grumbled, growing angrier with Dash.

“Well, if you’re so strong, then why are your attacks so damn weak?” Dash folded his arms. “A loser like you could never get us out of here.”

“Will you shut the fuck up?” Danny shouted. The green surrounding his hands burned red as crimson bled into his eyes. His brow knitted as he concentrated all of his anger into the attack. When the red blast hit the ceiling, a large crack formed. A scream tore from Danny’s throat as he put everything into his attack. The ground beneath him sank, and the other two men stumbled back a few paces, staring in shock at the white haired ghost. The red blast flared into white, and it punctured a hole in the sphere. Then darkness fell upon the three men as they experienced a sudden free fall sensation.

Dash woke on the floor of the gym with Paulina at his side. He sat up holding his head as he looked around the gym. Devon was still passed out beside him. Kwan stood next to Paulina, and the man that Dash knew as “Danielle’s cousin” was there as well. In front of them, he found Tucker and Sam maintaining some sort of force field that he guessed came from the Fenton’s house.

Explosions and the crumbling of half of the gym’s roof brought Dash’s attention to the fight happening over him. Danny was easily spotted, completely white in appearance as white blasts of ectoplasm flew from his hand. There were other ghosts present, but Dash couldn’t identify them.

At that moment, Dash didn’t care much about the battle among ghosts. He hurt too much inside after discovering the truth behind Danielle. Standing, Dash walked out of the barrier, unnoticed by the other teenagers who were focused completely on the battle. With one last glance to Danny, he turned his back on it all. A decision was finally made as he walked out of the gym.


	15. Chapter 15

Danny gasped, shooting into a sitting position as he awoke in a panic. Before blacking out, the last thing Danny could recall was the swirling mist of Daeva’s spirit as it dissipated into nothingness. The shrieking still echoed in his head, and Danny knew it would haunt his dreams for months like it had after destroying Walker in the war in the Ghost Zone.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?” The shout snapped Danny out of his thoughts. He looked around his surroundings, and it took him a moment to recognize where he was: Technus’s laboratory.

“Nicolai, please don’t start with this,” Vlad begged as he released a tired sigh.

“If you brought him to me sooner, I could have flushed that serum out of his system!” Technus continued his ranting as though Vlad hadn’t spoken. “Then he never would have been caught in the Soul Stripping Sphere, and he wouldn’t have used his powers so recklessly.”

Danny frowned as he climbed off the examining table, pulling off the wires attached to his body. He stomped over to the door and threw it open, its loud banging startling Technus. “Why do you always say I use my powers recklessly?” Danny demanded as he glared at Technus. “You said that after I defeated Walker too.”

“I’m afraid, Daniel, that I have to agree with Nicolai on this point,” Vlad said calmly, completely ignoring Danny’s glare. “Instead of being so angry, you should be thanking Nicolai for saving your life.” To that, Danny turned to Technus as a questioning look crossed his face.

Technus saw this as a chance to go into explanation mode. “The sphere that Daeva trapped you in was called a Soul Stripping Sphere. It’s a ghost made device that slowly strips the soul from a human and feeds it to the ghost; thus, increasing the ghost’s power.” He paused when Vlad coughed and he glared at the older half ghost. “Daeva is the first ghost to use one in centuries. There’s supposedly an easy way to escape from inside the Sphere, but it’s been so long that the knowledge has been lost. However, there was no need to use that much power to break free since you would have been freed from the Sphere as soon as Daeva was defeated. I had to work day and night for a week to stabilize you.”

“Ah, um, thank you, Technus,” Danny stuttered awkwardly before he blinked then looked to Vlad. “I was out for a week?”

“You nearly killed yourself by using that much power!” Technus shouted. “And I don’t mean just your physical self dying. Your spectral being would be completely destroyed as well. It’s a miracle you’re still alive.” He gave Danny a stern look as he pointed at the younger half ghost. “As a protector of the Ghost Zone, you have to be more responsible with your powers.”

“Okay. I get it,” Danny grumbled as he frowned. He turned his attention to Vlad while Technus fumed about his words being taken so lightly. “So Daeva… I know that name.” His brow furrowed as he thought. “Wasn’t she Walker’s wife?”

Vlad shook his head. “No, that was just an act they had going. Daeva was using Walker, controlling him to do her bidding. She wanted to rule over the Ghost Zone, to have the human world as her feeding ground for power.” He frowned, his mind battling with his thoughts. “As much as I hate to admit it, using that raw power blast may have been the fastest way to destroy her.” He looked up to Danny, his expression stern and leaving no room for arguments. “But it was still reckless. Daniel, you must promise me that you’ll never use your powers like that again. Next time, you may not be so lucky.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Danny sighed, his shoulders sagging in a show of depression. Then a thought came to him, and he looked back up to Vlad. “What happened after I blacked out?”

Vlad stroked his chin in thought before he replied. “Well, after you passed out, word arrived that your parents were on their way over since it had gotten out that a ghost attacked the school’s gym. Ember and I took you away right after the fight and left your parents to your friends. I assume they managed to stall your parents or, at least, keep them from tracking us as we made our escape.”

“And,” Danny said, hesitating as he dropped his gaze, “and what about Dash? Is – Is he okay?”

“I can’t say for sure.” Vlad shrugged. “I didn’t see him before we left.” He stood, smoothing out any wrinkles in his clothes. “And now, I think it is time that you return to your parents. They are most likely worried about you.” Danny nodded sadly, more worried about Dash than his parents.

 

Lancer reviewed the paper in his hand once more before he lifted his gaze to the man sitting in the chair on the other side of his desk. “I know you were given this choice at the beginning of the year, but I was under the impression that you wanted to complete your final year here at Casper High.”

“And I changed my mind,” Dash stated through clenched teeth as his hands flexed around the arms of the chair.

“Ah, and this wouldn’t have anything to do with the incident with Daniel Fenton, would it?” Lancer set the paper down on his desk.

Dash glared at the vice-principal before he turned his gaze away. “This town just loves to gossip, doesn’t it?” He snorted, sliding down a little in his chair. “If you know already, then you shouldn’t be that shocked by my decision.”

“I understand what you’re feeling. But is it that difficult for you to talk to Fenton about what happened?”

“You understand what I’m feeling?” Dash snapped his head around to glare at the vice-principal. “You can’t possibly understand what I’m feeling!” he shouted, forcing himself to remain seated despite his urge to stand, to scream his rage for all to hear. “He fucked around with my feelings! I thought I had finally met the girl of my dreams, the girl I wanted to marry, and it was all a lie! This is the second time he’s done something like this to me. I can’t forgive him for this. It would be best if I just graduate now so that I don’t have to see that little shit head again.”

Lancer released a tired sigh. “I suppose there’s no way I can change your mind about this.” He frowned at Dash, who merely nodded. “Without you to tutor him, Fenton will most certainly fail his French class.”

“I really couldn’t care less if he fails,” Dash said in a bored manner. “I just want to graduate and sign up for my class at college for the summer quarter.”

“Well, it is your decision so I can’t really do anything to stop you.” Lancer frowned, wishing he could stop Dash, get him to talk to Danny, but he could see that the jock's mind was made up. Dash was far too stubborn to listen to Lancer’s words. “I’ll take care of everything regarding your early graduation. You are free to go now.” Dash stood up and left the office. Lancer sat back in seat, sighing as he turned his gaze to the ceiling.

 

Danny hesitated before walking through the doors of Casper High for the first since his fight with Daeva. Nervousness filled him as he wondered what people would think, whether they remembered seeing Danny in his ghost form. So many questions ran through his mind, many scenarios of what would happen. But what he wondered about the most was how Dash would react to seeing him again.

“Danny!” Paulina jogged over to him when she spotted the man walking slowly down the school’s main hall. Danny glanced around before turning back to the woman and pointing at himself in confusion. “Come on!” Paulina grabbed his arm and started leading him toward the seniors' lounge, where only the popular kids hung out before school and during lunch and free periods.

“Um, what’s going on?” Though confused, Danny felt a surge of hopefulness rise inside him. If Paulina was still talking to him, then maybe there was a chance that Dash would forgive him. But he knew that was simply wishful thinking.

They reached the lounge, and Paulina opened the door. When he peeked inside, Danny found the only occupants of the lounge to be Kwan and Abner sitting on one couch, Sam and Tucker sitting across from them, and Devon sitting on a table along the back wall. Danny’s brow furrowed at them as Paulina locked the door behind them before she guided him over to another couch.

“So, um, what’s up?” Danny forced a smile as everyone turned their gazes to him.

“So what exactly are you?” Kwan asked the question that was on everyone’s mind with the exception of Sam and Tucker, who knew since freshmen year, and Devon, who knew because of Daeva.

Danny glanced at the three who knew nothing of what he was before he dropped his gaze to his hands in his lap. He was disappointed that Dash wasn’t present at this little meeting. “Well, I guess to keep this short, I’m half ghost,” he said, scratching the back of his neck. He really didn’t feel like going into all the details about how he came to be a half ghost. The following silence only increased his nervousness, and he gripped his knees tightly to keep his hands from shaking.

“Right,” Abner said with a small nod of his head. “That explained, well, a few things.” He smiled weakly when everyone looked at him.

“I guess you’re wondering about whether or not we’ll keep your secret,” Paulina said, voicing exactly one of the worries on Danny’s mind. She wrapped an arm around Danny’s shoulders and gave him a bright smile. “Don’t worry. We won’t say a word about what we saw to anyone. Right, guys?” She turned to the other two, who quickly agreed with keeping Danny’s secret.

“Thanks.” Danny smiled a little before he frowned. “Um, so… Where’s Dash?”

At that question, Paulina and Kwan frowned, exchanging looks with each other.

“Um, Danny, while you were gone,” Paulina said, taking his hand in hers, “Dash made a decision.”

“He graduated early,” Kwan stated simply, and Paulina glared at him for cutting off what she would have eventually gotten around to saying. “At the beginning of the year, he was given the option to graduate early and go to college. He’s probably already driving to the college of his choice right now. Or, he could actually already be there by now.”

“I see,” Danny said slowly as he forced a smile onto his face. “Well, that’s great for him. I never would have thought that Dash would be able to graduate early.” He fought to keep the tears back, inside his heart breaking at the news. _Dash left?_ he thought, his smile faltering a little. _He must really hate me to suddenly choose to graduate early. He probably doesn’t ever want to see me again_.

The bell rang at that point, and Danny stood up slowly. He walked to the door and left the lounge without even so much as a goodbye to his friends. The others glanced at each other, all of them worrying about their friend. As he watched the man leave, Devon only hated himself more. He wished he could take everything back, to let Danny’s life return to the way it was before, but he knew that was impossible.

Hopping off the table, Devon left the lounge in much the same way that Danny had, though no one paid much attention to him. It didn’t surprise him at all by how much they all hated him since he hated himself too. He soon caught up with the half ghost and, snatching him by the arm, dragged Danny toward one of the side exits.

“Okay. I’m getting sick of everyone dragging me off,” Danny grumbled, not really in the mood to try and fight off Devon. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“I know you probably won’t ever forgive me for what happened,” Devon said once they were alone.

“Damn right I won’t!” Danny glared at the other man as he leaned against the side of the school building. “If you hadn’t – Gah! Do you know how much you’ve screwed up my life?”

“I know, and I’m really sorry.” Devon sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I wish I could just-”

Danny leaped into action and slapped a hand over Devon’s mouth before he could finish his thought. “Don’t,” he growled, his eyes darting around to see if Desiree was lurking around or not. He knew the wish granting ghost was supposed to be back in the Ghost Zone, but he didn’t want to risk it. Desiree still loved to sneak out and grant wishes even after the whole war ended. After some time passed, Danny removed his hand from the man’s mouth.

“Okay,” Devon said slowly, his brow rising in confusion. “If I could take everything back, I would. I feel horrible about what I’ve done. I hate myself for having done all this to you. I just - I just wanted Dedrick back so badly that I was willing to risk someone else’s life in exchange for his life. I’m a selfish, selfish bastard. You should have just let me die in that stupid sphere.”

“I do hate you,” Danny muttered as he folded his arms over his chest and looked away. “You know, you could have saved us both a lot of trouble if you had just come to me and told me what was happening.”

“Yeah, probably. It would have been the smart thing to do.” Devon sighed, moving to lean against the wall beside Danny. “It’s just - I was so confused and scared. Before she came, I thought ghosts were a myth. I didn’t think they actually existed. And then, there she was, and I couldn’t do anything to stop her, to get Dedrick back.”

“But why you?” Danny wondered out loud. “I mean, what’s so special about you? Why would she go through all the trouble to find someone all the way in New York?”

“You mean you haven’t heard about my father before?” Devon gaped at the man when Danny shook his head. “My father was a famous hypnotist. Well, before his death that is. He only taught me a few of his tricks, but most of his secrets were lost when he died. I guess that’s why. She wanted someone who would be able to inject you with that serum without you knowing. Hypnotizing you must have been the easiest way in her mind.”

“I guess so.” Danny frowned then he turned his gaze to Devon. “Your father must have been a good man with no regrets. Otherwise, she could have gotten his ghost to do the hypnotizing.”

“He was a great father.” Devon smiled fondly before it turned back into a frown. “He’s probably disappointed in me for what I’ve done. I’ve disappointed the two most important people in my life.”

Danny stared sadly at Devon for a moment before he tore his gaze away. “So what are you going to do now?”

“I’m going back to New York tomorrow. I’m going to live with my grandparents.”

Danny blinked at the man. “What about your mother?”

“She died giving birth to me.” Devon shook his head. “I only stayed here because I wanted to be able to tell you that I was sorry. I know that doesn’t even begin to make up for the sins I’ve committed, but I had to say it, that I’m sorry.” He looked at Danny again. “What about you? Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah, I guess I always knew Dash would never love me as me,” Danny replied, his body sagging at that announcement. “I just didn’t expect him to go and graduate early because of this.”

When school ended for the day, Danny sighed in relief. He still felt drained after everything that happened, and Vlad wanted him to rest and not use his ghost powers for a while. He would be happy to comply with that order as long as no other ghosts tried to attack him again. Before Danny could exit the school, Kwan caught up to him. Danny sighed, remembering that he still had a lot of studying to do to get his grades up before the end of the year. They settled into seats at the back table in the library. Kwan pulled out the history books as Danny slumped in his seat.

 _How am I ever going to pass French with Dash gone?_ he wondered miserably.

"Danny," Kwan said, drawing the other man from his thoughts. He sighed as he pulled something out of his pocket. "I should probably return this." He slid the picture over to Danny.

For a moment, Danny merely stared at the picture before him. Then a real smile broke onto his face as he laughed. "I remember this!" He picked the picture up, shaking his head. "My mom was working on this dress to give Sam as a birthday present." He stared at the image of him when he was eight, forced unwillingly into the black dress. "Since I was apparently the same size as Sam back then, she decided to use me for the fitting."

Kwan leaned on his hand as he listened to the story, finally.

Danny's gaze fell on the image of a young Dash. His thumb ran over the picture, and his gaze was fond but pained. "Dash had just moved to our neighborhood, so we'd be attending the same school now. I don't even remember why he came over. His parents wanted to meet our family, or my parents invited them." He shrugged. "Dash just kept staring at me, and I was so embarrassed. Then suddenly," Danny halted, blushing madly. "He just came over and kissed me on the cheek. Jazz snapped the picture before either of us realized she was there."

Kwan would have laughed at the man's embarrassment, but nothing about it seemed all that funny. "When did he realize the truth?"

"The next day at school when I said hi to him." Danny buried his face in his arms. "His face got all red, and he pushed me down."

Kwan frowned, and his shoulders slumped. He doubted there was any hope in getting through to his friend.

 

Somewhere far away from Casper High, Dash stared at the hand outstretched in front of him then lifted his gaze to the woman's face.

“I can help you get revenge on the one who wronged you.” A smirk spread across her face.

Dash weighed his choices carefully before he finally accepted the woman's offer and placed his hand in hers.


End file.
